Reading the Son of Neptune
by TheOneAndOnlyHope
Summary: Camp Half-Blood have gathered in the Dining Pavilion to read a special book given to Annabeth by the Fates. The book is about there lost leader - Percy Jackson.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys, lately I have been reading a lot of 'reading the books' fanfictions and I really liked them so I thought I would give it a go….there are so many of 'The Lost Hero' ones so I decided to do 'The Son of Neptune'**

**You are all welcome to Review or PM me any good ideas….**

**I don't own any of the PJO characters **

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**Annabeth's POV**

I sit there vacantly staring out at the waves of the ocean crashing against the shore with the painful memory of the way Percy would drag me out for a swim and end up creating an underwater bubble.

So engrossed in the painful memory of losing my seaweed brain, I barely noticed the large blue book falling out of the sky and landing on my lap.

I stare at it confused for a while until I notice the small note stuck to the front and I unfreeze with a new found excitement. It read…

_Dear Annabeth,_

_We are aware that you and the rest of Camp Half Blood are extremely concerned on the disappearance of Perseus Jackson and to make up for this we have decided to send you a book filled with the things that Perseus has been doing in the last 6 months._

_Please take this book to Chiron immediately and make sure this is read in front of the whole of Camp at meals and at the Campfire as well as any spare time you have._

_Sincerely,  
The Fates. _

I jump up with my heart full of hope and sprint towards the Big House ignoring the surprised look from everyone to see the heartbroken Daughter of Athena smiling for the first time in months.

As I reach the Big House I see Chiron and Mr D playing a game of pinochle that I know Chiron would definitely win as he has done so in all of the games they have ever played of it.

"Chiron!" I yell as I reach the front porch.

He looks up startled to see me there instead of my cabin like I would normally be.

"Yes Annabeth, is everything alright?" He asked concerned.

Chiron is like a fatherly figure to me so his concern always filled my heart with warmth that I wouldn't get from my actual father.

I give him the book and note with an eager expression on my face

"It's a book about what Percy has been up to when he went missing and where he went. We need to read it as soon as possible" I say in that rapid fast way you would expect from Rachel

"Ok, we will start reading right away. Make sure you round up everyone at the Dining Pavilion so we can begin.

**...**

"I know that this meeting is very sudden and unexpected but earlier today Annabeth received a gift from the fates." Chiron stated in front of the camp.

He held up the book so everyone could see it clearly.

"What about it?" Clarisse yelled from the Ares table obviously annoyed to interrupted during her training session.

"It's a book containing the details on what Percy Jackson has been doing ever since he went missing"

A collective gasp went through the camp and everyone started talking over each other about the scandalous news.

"Quiet!" Chiron shouted as he stomped his hoof in attempt to stop the noise.

Everyone quieted down and Chiron took that as a sign to continue talking.

"We will begin reading right away but we will have to wait a minute or so as Thalia has kindly left her hunters to hear the story of her Cousins disappearance" Chiron said just as Thalia jogged into the pavilion completely out of breath.

"Thalia, I'm glad you could make it, please take a seat we were just about to begin" Chiron said kindly.

"Okay" She said as she sat down next to me "Hey Annie" She whispering with a grin that clearly showed she knew I didn't like that nickname but I was too eager to read that I would bother arguing about it.

**"Chapter One - Percy I" **

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**So that was the first chapter, how was it? Please Read and Review. Flames are most welcome.**

**Sorry its so short but I promise the rest will be longer (especially since Ricks chapters by themselves are really long)**

**If you have any advice or ideas for me don't forget to Review or PM me.**

**-Hopexx**


	2. Percy I

**Hey Guys, I am so grateful for all the reviews I got and I cant wait for more. Some people want me to put Percy in it but it wont work because Percy is still on his quest while they are reading.**

**Sorry but if anyone has any other really good ideas or people to include please don't be afraid to PM or Review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the PJO characters.**

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"**Chapter One – Percy I"**

**THE SNAKE-HAIRED LADIES WERE**** starting to annoy Percy.**

"Snake-haired ladies?" Questioned Katie.

"Gorgons" Annabeth breathed disbelievingly.

**They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart. They should have died two days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez. They **_**definitely**_** should have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tilden Park.**

Annabeth smiled. Only Percy would think of using a bowling ball to kill a monster. Thalia caught her gaze and smiled.

**No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies. He couldn't even seem to outrun them. **

Thalia put her arm comfortingly around Annabeth noticing her concerned expression.

**He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since he'd last killed them? Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.**

"That's worse than the monsters we fought" Jason exclaimed.

**The past few days, he'd hardly slept. He'd eaten whatever he could scrounge—vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low. **

"Jack in the Crack burrito?" Travis snickered

"I want some!" Connor yelled

**His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime. **

"Poor Percy" Katie said sadly.

**He'd only survived this long because the two snake-haired-ladies—**_**gorgons**_**, they called themselves—couldn't seem to kill him either. Their claws didn't cut his skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him.**

"I guess I should thank Nico for that next time he comes. If he didn't take Percy to the River Styx then he would probably be dead by now." Annabeth said

**But Percy couldn't keep going much longer. Soon he'd collapse from exhaustion, and then—as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.**

**Where to run? **

**He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might've enjoyed the view. To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows. **

"Nice Cows" Clovis muttered softly before returning back to sleep

"Why is he even here? It's not like his listening" Thalia whispered me, obviously trying to make me laugh

**To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west—a vast checkerboard of neighborhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod.**

"How does he even have time to look around at the view if he is being chased by monsters?" Chris asked.

"Because he's Percy" Thalia said like it was obvious.

**Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.**

"He's in San Francisco!" I gasped. "Chiron we have to leave now"

"The Fates clearly said that we are to just read the book and let everything play out as it is supposed too. I am sorry child" Chiron said

**A vague sadness weighed on Percy's chest. Something told him he'd been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeth—the only person he could remember from his past.**

Everything went silent as Annabeth sat there staring at the book.

"Why did he just remember Annabeth?" Thalia asked.

"Its true love!" Lacy daughter of Aphrodite exclaimed.

"No it's not because of that." Someone said walking into the Pavilion.

Everyone looked up to see Nico Di Angelo standing there in his usual clothes.

"When he went into the River Styx he had to think of one thing that tied him to the mortal world. He thought of Annabeth, that's why he only remembers her. Even Hera can't take that memory away."

Annabeth sat there smiling like a fool at the thought of Percy remembering her and no one else.

**His memory of her was frustratingly dim. The wolf had promised he would see her again and regain his memory—**_**if **_**he succeeded in his journey.**

"What journey" Annabeth asked worryingly

"Who cares! Where's the action?" Clarisse yelled

**Should he try to cross the bay?**

"No, that's the wrong way to Camp Jupiter!" Jason yelled.

"Did you start getting some memories back?" His girlfriend Piper asked.

"Yeah this book is bringing some fuzzy memories back as we read it" He said smiling

**It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water always revived him. Salt water was the best. He'd discovered that two days ago when he had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait. **

"Yeah! Go Percy!" The Stoll's yelled.

**If he could reach the bay, he might be able to make a last stand.**

Thalia winced at that and looked down, remembering when she made her last stand many years ago.

**Maybe he could even drown the gorgons. But the shore was at least two miles away. He'd have to cross an entire city.**

**He hesitated for another reason. The she-wolf Lupa had taught him to sharpen his senses—to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was tingling like crazy now.**

"Tingling?" Leo snickered

**The end of his journey was close—almost right under his feet. But how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop.**

**The wind changed. Percy caught the sour scent of reptile.**

"He can smell reptiles?" Connor asked.

"Idiot" Clarisse muttered.

**A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods—snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing.**

**Gorgons.**

**For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses weren't so good. They had always said they could **_**smell**_** him because he was a demigod—the half-blood son of some old Roman god. **

"Roman!" Everyone shouted outraged.

"Relax children. He doesn't have any memories remember?" Chiron said trying to calm down the camp.

**Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-freshener sticks in his pockets so he'd have that new car smell; but apparently demigod stink was hard to mask.**

"It's almost impossible." Grover said

"What do we smell like?" Piper asked.

"Everyone has a different scent. You smell like Perfume, Leo smells like smoke, Katie smells like flowers, Annabeth smells like a new book-" He got cut off by Chiron who cleared his throat signalling he was ready to read

**He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hill's base and wound its way toward Berkeley.**

**Great. No other way off the hill. He'd managed to get himself cornered.**

"No," Annabeth moaned.

**He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were in one of them.**

"Don't we all." Many campers said dryly.

**Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a tunnel…right under his feet.**

**His internal radar went nuts. He **_**was**_** in the right place, just too high up. He had to check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highway—fast.**

"Go!" Thalia screamed, interrupting Chiron who just waited for her to finish.

**He slung off his backpack. He'd managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, a Comfy Panda Pillow Pet (as seen on TV), and a Swiss army knife—pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want. But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled.**

"He's going to slide down the hill?" Chris asked.

"I think so," Piper replied. "I don't know how though."

**That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, or stand and fight. Both options sounded pretty bad.**

**He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket.**

"What's a pen gonna do?" Jason asked.

"Duh, he's going to write all over the monsters!" Leo snickered.

"You'll see" Nico said mysteriously popping out from the shadows, making everyone around him jump at his sudden appearance.

**The pen didn't look like much, just a regular cheap ballpoint, but when Percy uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword. The blade balanced perfectly. The leather grip fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard was an Ancient Greek word Percy somehow understood: **_**Anaklusmos—**_**Riptide. **

"That's awesome!" Leo yelled.

"Like your gladius, Jason" Piper said looking at her boyfriend.

**He'd woken up with this sword his first night at the Wolf House—two months ago? More? He'd lost track. He'd found himself in the courtyard of a burned-out mansion in the middle of the woods, wearing shorts, an orange T-shirt, and a leather necklace with a bunch of strange clay beads. Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had had no idea how he'd gotten there, and only the vaguest idea who he was. He'd been barefoot, freezing, and confused. And then the wolves came... **

The silence after that was ruined by the familiar sound of the Stoll brothers howling like wolves, making the whole camp erupt in laughter.

**Right next to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: "There you are!"**

**Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill.**

**It was the smiley one—Beano.**

"Beano?" Everyone asked confused.

**Okay, her name wasn't really Beano. As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic, because words got twisted around when he tried to read. The first time he'd seen the gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green button that read: **_**Welcome! My name is STHENO, **_**he'd thought it said BEANO. **

"Oh," Jason said, eyebrows pulling together.

Annabeth flickered a smile. "Seaweed Brain." She said softly

**She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress. If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebody's dumpy old grandmother—until you looked down and realized she had rooster feet. Or you looked up and saw bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes.**

"Ew!" Piper yelled, then smiled sheepishly at everyone looking at her.

"Careful Beauty Queen, your Aphrodite side is showing up." Leo snickered.

Piper smacked his arm and playfully glared at her best friend.

**The most horrible thing about her? She was still holding her big silver platter of free samples: Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. Her platter was dented from all the times Percyhad killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine. Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him. Percy didn't know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor, he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. They were indestructible.**

Annabeth cracked a smile.

"**Try one?" Stheno offered.**

**Percy fended her off with his sword. "Where's your sister?" **

"**Oh, put the sword away," Stheno chided. "You know by now that even Celestial bronze can't kill us for long. Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener! They're on sale this week, and I'd hate to kill you on an empty stomach."**

"**Stheno!" The second gorgon appeared on Percy's right so fast, he didn't have time to react. Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention. "I told you to sneak up on him and kill him!"**

**Stheno's smile wavered. "But, Euryale…" She said the nameso it rhymed with **_**Muriel**_**. "Can't I give him a sample first?"**

"**No, you imbecile!" Euryale turned toward Percy and bared her fangs.**

"Don't hurt him" Annabeth whispered.

"They can't" Thalia reminded her softly.

**Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: **_**Hello! My name is DIE, DEMIGOD SCUM! **_

"Well that's not obvious," Clarisse muttered. "Where's the action in here?"

"**You've led us on quite a chase, Percy Jackson," Euryale said. "But now you're trapped, and we'll have our revenge!" **

"**The Cheese 'n' Wieners are only $2.99," Stheno added helpfully. "Grocery department, aisle three." Euryale snarled. "Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a **_**front**_**! **

"She just won't give up will she?" Piper asked.

**You're going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that he's the one who vaporized Medusa?"**

"He killed Medusa" Jason squeaked, awed.

"When he was 12" Annabeth replied smiling at the memory.

"Wow." Piper muttered.

**Percy stepped back. Six more inches, and he'd be tumbling through thin air. "Look, ladies, we've been over this. I don't even **_**remember**_** killing Medusa. I don't remember anything! Can't we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?" **

**Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks. "Can we?"**

"**No!" Euryale's red eyes bored into Percy. "I don't care what you remember, son of the sea god. I can smell Medusa's blood on you. It's faint, yes, several years old, but**_** you**_** were the last one to defeat her. She **_**still**_** has not returned from Tartarus. It's your fault!"**

**Percy didn't really get that. The whole "dying then returning from Tartarus" concept gave him a headache. **

"Ditto," Leo said. "Why can't they stay dead, it would be so much easier."

"Then what would be the purpose of our existence?" Thalia said.

**Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a sword, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that Percy was the son of a barnacle-encrusted god from five thousand years ago.**

"Barnicle encrusted," Travis repeated. "His Dad won't be too happy about that"

**But he **_**did**_** believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way he knew his name was Percy Jackson. From his very first conversation with Lupa the wolf, he'd accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality. Which pretty much sucked.**

"I totally agree." Jason exclaimed.

"**How about we call it a draw?" he said. "I can't kill you. You can't kill me. If you're Medusa's sisters—like **_**the **_**Medusa who turned people to stone—shouldn't I be petrified by now?" **

"**Heroes!" Euryale said with disgust. "They always bring that up, just like our mother! 'Why can't you turn people to stone? Your **_**sister**_** can turn people to stone.' Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa's curse alone. **_**She **_**was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!"**

**Stheno looked hurt. "Mother said **_**I **_**was the most hideous." **

"Are they seriously fighting about that?" Thalia yelled.

"**Quiet!" Euryale snapped. "As for you, Percy Jackson, it's true you bear the mark of Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But don't worry. We'll find a way." **

"**The mark of what?" **

"Yeah, The mark of what?" Leo repeated.

"It explains here child." Chiron said, reading ahead.

"**Achilles," Stheno said cheerfully. "Oh, he was **_**gorgeous**_**! Dipped in the River Styx as a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. That's what happened to you, dear. Someone must've dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like iron.**

"Wow" Jason, Piper and Leo chorused.

"He would be dead if it wasn't for me." Nico piped up.

"Yeah, whatever," Thalia retorted. "Don't flatter yourself Death Breath.

"Pinecone Face."

"Zombie"

"Sparkle"

"Idiot"

"Smarta-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Nico!" Thalia yelled.

"Okay" Nico gulped.

Annabeth just sighed at their bickering. She was used to it by now.

**But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won't that be lovely? Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener!" **

**Percy tried to think. He didn't remember any dip in the Styx. Then again, he didn't remember much of anything. His skin didn't feel like iron, but it would explain how he'd held out so long against the gorgons.**

**Maybe if he just fell down the mountain…would he survive? He didn't want to risk it—not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or…**

**He looked at Stheno's large silver platter of free samples. **

**Hmm... **

"His actually planning something!" Annabeth said in shock."

"Duck and Cover!" Thalia and Nico yelled, making fun of their cousin like he was here.

"**Reconsidering?" Stheno asked. "Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon's blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless."**

**Percy's throat constricted. "You added your blood to the Cheese 'n' Wieners?" **

"Now that's just wrong." Leo said disgusted.

"**Just a little." Stheno smiled. "A tiny nick on my arm, but you're sweet to be concerned. Blood from our right side can cure anything, you know, but blood from our left side is deadly—" **

"**You dimwit!" Euryale screeched. "You're not supposed to tell him that! He won't eat the wieners if you tell him they're poisoned!"**

"Yeah, that's the most stupidest thing a monster could do." Connor said matter of factly.

"Stupidest isn't a word." Annabeth sighed.

**Stheno looked stunned. "He won't? But I said it would be quick and painless."**

"**Never mind!" Euryale's fingernails grew into claws. "We'll kill him the hard way—just keep slashing until we find the weak spot. Once we defeat Percy Jackson, we'll be more famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!"**

**Percy gripped his sword. He'd have to time his move perfectly—a few seconds of confusion, grab the platter with his left hand... **

**Keep them talking, he thought.**

"He's good at that." Thalia said smiling.

"**Before you slash me to bits," he said, "who's this patron you mentioned?"**

"That was actually good idea," Chris said. "Asking them before he kills them."

**Euryale sneered. "The goddess Gaea, of course! The one who brought us back from oblivion! You won't live long enough to meet her, but your friends below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she'll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like—like—" **

"**Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!" Stheno suggested.**

"**Gah!" Euryale stormed toward her sister. Percy took the opening. He grabbed Stheno's platter, scattering poisoned Cheese 'n' Wieners, and slashed Riptide across Euryale's waist, cutting her in half.**

"Yeah go Percy!" Everyone cheered.

**He raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection.**

"**Medusa!" she screamed. **

**Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting. **

"A snowman? Really?" Leo said.

"**Stheno, you fool!" she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. "That's just your own reflection! Get him!" **

**Percy slammed the metal tray on top of Stheno's head, and she passed out cold.**

"Nice" Chris said as everyone else cheered.

**He put the platter behind his butt, said a silent prayer to whatever Roman god oversaw stupid sledding tricks, and jumped off the side of the hill. **

"Now, who wants to read next?" Chiron asked.

No one put their hands up, knowing Annabeth should read the next chapter.

She opened up the book.

"**Chapter Two – Percy II"**

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**How was it! Sorry if there are Grammar mistakes, but I left all the spelling and everything to my spellcheck on my computer so…**

**Please Read and Review!  
-Hopexx**


	3. Percy II

**Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate them and just letting you know Grover will be introduced soon..**

**Dislclaimer: I don't own any of the PJO characters.**

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"**Chapter Two – Percy II"**

**THE THING ABOUT PLUMMETING DOWNHILL**** at fifty miles an hour on a snack platter—if you realize it's a bad idea when you're halfway down, it's too late.**

"Or it's because all of his ideas are bad ideas" Thalia snickered.

**Percy narrowly missed a tree, glanced off a boulder, and spun a three-sixty as he shot toward the highway. The stupid snack tray did not have power steering. He heard the gorgon sisters screaming and caught a glimpse of Euryale's coral-snake hair at the top of the hill, but he didn't have time to worry about it. The roof of the apartment building loomed below him like the prow of a battleship. Head-on collision in ten, nine, eight…**

"Seven" Travis continued

"Six" Connor added.

"Five" Leo said, catching on.

"Fou-" Travis was cut off.

"SHUTUP!" Clarisse yelled.

**He managed to swivel sideways to avoid breaking his legs on impact. The snack platter skittered across the roof and sailed through the air. The platter went one way. Percy went the other. **

"Of course it did" Annabeth muttered

**As he fell toward the highway, a horrible scenario flashed through his mind: his body smashing against an SUV's windshield, some annoyed commuter trying to push him off with the wipers. **_**Stupid sixteen-year-old kid falling from the sky! I'm late! **_

The Camp snickered, even Nico cracked a smile.

Annabeth though, _There's Percy again, always joking in the face of death._

**Miraculously, a gust of wind blew him to one side—just enough to miss the highway and crash into a clump of bushes. It wasn't a soft landing, but it was better than asphalt.**

**Percy groaned. He wanted to lie there and pass out, but he had to keep moving.**

**He struggled to his feet. His hands were scratched up, but no bones seemed to be broken. He still had his backpack. Somewhere on the sled ride he'd lost his sword, **

"That's bad" Jason said worryingly

**but Percy knew it would eventually reappear in his pocket in pen form. That was part of its magic.**

"Awesome!," Leo yelled. "Way better than your sword Jason!"

"Yeah, that is pretty cool" Jason admitted.

**He glanced up the hill. The gorgons were hard to miss, with their colorful snake hair and their bright green Bargain Mart vests. They were picking their way down the slope, going slower than Percy but with a lot more control. Those chicken feet must've been good for climbing.**

"Of course they are," Malcom said. "The feet-"

"Shut up Brain boy," Clarisse said. "I actually want to finish the book this year."

**Percy figured he had maybe five minutes before they reached him.**

**Next to him, a tall chain-link fence separated the highway from a neighborhood of winding streets, cozy houses, and talleucalyptus trees. The fence was probably there to keep people from getting onto the highway and doing stupid things—like sledding into the fast lane on snack trays—but the chain-link was full of big holes. Percy could easily slip through into the neighborhood. Maybe he could find a car and drive west to the ocean. He didn't like stealing cars, but over the past few weeks, in life-and-death situations, he'd "borrowed" several, including a police cruiser. **

Leo laughed so hard he fell off his lof.

"Borrowed a police cruiser?" Jason said. He turned to Piper.

"That tops what I did" She put her hands up in surrender.

"What you did?" The Stolls were interested now.

Before anyone could continue, Annabeth went back to reading.

**He'd meant to return them, but they never seemed to last very long.**

**He glanced east. Just as he'd figured, a hundred yards uphill the highway cut through the base of the cliff. Two tunnel entrances, one for each direction of traffic, stared down at him like eye sockets of a giant skull. In the middle, where the nose would have been, a cement wall jutted from the hillside, with a metal door like the entrance to a bunker. **

"Probably not as cool as Bunker 9" Leo muttered.

**It might have been a maintenance tunnel. That's probably what mortals thought, if they noticed the door at all. But they couldn't see through the Mist. Percy knew the door was more than that. **

"The entrance to camp!" Jason remembered.

**Two kids in armor flanked the entrance. They wore a bizarre mix of plumed Roman helmets, breastplates, scabbards, blue jeans, purple T-shirts, and white athletic shoes. The guard on the right looked like a girl, though it was hard to tell for sure with all the armor. The one on the left was a stocky guy with a bow and quiver on his back. Both kids held long wooden staffs with iron spear tips, like old-fashioned harpoons.**

"Why do they have guards," Annabeth asked. "Don't they have a border like us?"

"Yeah, but Camp Jupiter always like to be on the safe side." Jason replied.

**Percy's internal radar was pinging like crazy. After so many horrible days, he'd finally reached his goal. His instincts told him that if he could make it inside that door, he might find safety for the first time since the wolves had sent him south.**

**So why did he feel such dread?**

"Because it's the wrong camp" Annabeth interrupted herself.

**Farther up the hill, the gorgons were scrambling over the roof of the apartment complex. Three minutes away—maybe less. **

**Part of him wanted to run to the door in the hill. He'd have to cross to the median of the highway, but then it would be a short sprint. He could make it before the gorgons reached him. **

**Part of him wanted to head west to the ocean. That's where he'd be safest. That's where his power would be greatest. Those Roman guards at the door made him uneasy. Something inside him said: **_**This isn't my territory. This is dangerous. **_

"**You're right, of course," said a voice next to him.**

"Another monster?" Katie moaned

**Percy jumped. At first he thought Beano had managed to sneak up on him again, but the old lady sitting in the bushes was even more repulsive than a gorgon. She looked like a hippie who'd been kicked to the side of the road maybe forty years ago, where she'd been collecting trash and rags ever since. She wore a dress made of tie-dyed cloth, ripped-up quilts, and plastic grocery bags. Her frizzy mop of hair was gray-brown, like root-beer foam, tied back with a peace-sign headband. Warts and moles covered her face. When she smiled, she showed exactly three teeth.**

"Ok that's just gross," Thalia said. "Definitely a monster"

"An ugly one" Annabeth muttered.

"**It isn't a maintenance tunnel," she confided. "It's the entrance to camp."**

**A jolt went up Percy's spine. **_**Camp. **_**Yes, that's where he was from. A camp. Maybe this was his home. Maybe Annabeth was close by.**

"Awwww," The Aphrodite cabin cooed.

**But something felt wrong.**

**The gorgons were still on the roof of the apartment building. Then Stheno shrieked in delight and pointed in Percy's direction. **

**The old hippie lady raised her eyebrows. "Not much time, child. You need to make your choice." **

"Why is she helping him?" Chris asked, confused.

"**Who are you?" Percy asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The last thing he needed was another harmless mortal who turned out to be a monster. **

"**Oh, you can call me June." The old lady's eyes sparkled as if she'd made an excellent joke. "It **_**is **_**June, isn't it? They named the month after me!" **

"Juno!' Jason exclaimed.

Most of the camp looked at him confused.

"Juno is the roman form of my least favourite Goddess," Annabeth said. "Hera."

"**Okay…Look, I should go. Two gorgons are coming. I don't want them to hurt you."**

**June clasped her hands over her heart. "How sweet! But that's part of your choice!"**

"**My choice…" Percy glanced nervously toward the hill. The gorgons had taken off their green vests. Wings sprouted from their backs—small bat wings, which glinted like brass.**

**Since when did they have **_**wings**_**?**

"Has he learned anything," Annabeth muttered. "I taught him this so many times."

**Maybe they were ornamental. Maybe they were too small to get a gorgon into the air. Then the two sisters leaped off the apartment building and soared toward him. **

_**Great. Just great.**_

"Percy does have the worst luck" Nico said.

Everyone nodded in agreement to the Son of Hades.

"**Yes, a choice," June said, as if she were in no hurry. "You could leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and go to the ocean. You'd make it there safely, I guarantee. The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monster would bother you. You could begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and misery that is in your future."**

**Percy was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the second option. **

"No one ever does" Jason said.

"**Or?"**

"**Or you could do a good deed for an old lady," she said. "Carry me to the camp with you." **

"**Carry you?" Percy hoped she was kidding. Then June hiked up her skirts and showed him her swollen purple feet.**

"Now that's just nasty" Thalia said, wrinkling her nose.

"**I can't get there by myself," she said. "Carry me to camp—across the highway, through the tunnel, across the river."**

**Percy didn't know what river she meant, but it didn't sound easy. June looked pretty heavy.**

Annabeth snickered.

**The gorgons were only fifty yards away now—leisurely gliding toward him as if they knew the hunt was almost over.**

**Percy looked at the old lady. "And I'd carry you to this camp because—?"**

"**Because it's a kindness!" she said. "And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed.**

"That would normally work." Chris said. "But he doesn't remember us"

"He remembers Annabeth" Lacy said. "I bet he would do it for her"

**Of course, you wouldn't remember them, so I suppose it won't matter. You'd be safe at the bottom of the sea.…" **

**Percy swallowed. The gorgons shrieked with laughter as they soared in for the kill.**

"He has a weird way of describing things" Piper piped up. **(See what I did there?)**

"**If I go to the camp," he said, "will I get my memory back?" **

"**Eventually," June said. "But be warned, you will sacrifice much! You'll lose the mark of Achilles. You'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. **

"No!" Nico yelled "Do you know how much effort it took to make him go in the river? He can't just throw it away"

**But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family, to reclaim your old life."**

**The gorgons were circling right overhead. They were probably studying the old woman, trying to figure out who the new player was before they struck.**

"**What about those guards at the door?" Percy asked.**

**June smiled. "Oh, they'll let you in, dear. You can trust those two. So, what do you say? Will you help a defenseless old woman?" **

"Defenseless," Annabeth scoffed. "Yeah right."

**Percy doubted June was defenseless. At worst, this was a trap. At best, it was some kind of test.**

**Percy hated tests. **

"That will never change" Thalia said. "Even with his memory gone."

**Since he'd lost his memory, his whole life was one big fill-in-the-blank. He was _, from _. He felt like _, and if the monsters caught him, he'd be _. **

"No you can't fill in the blanks" Clarisse snapped at the Stoll's before they could even open their mouths.

**Then he thought about Annabeth, the only part of his old life he was sure about. He **_**had**_** to find her. **

"Aww, that's so sweet!" The Aphrodite cabin squealed at Percy's thoughts

"**I'll carry you." He scooped up the old woman.**

**She was lighter than he expected. Percy tried to ignore her sour breath and her calloused hands clinging to his neck. He made it across the first lane of traffic. A driver honked. Another yelled something that was lost in the wind. Most just swerved and looked irritated, as if they had to deal with a lot of ratty teenagers carrying old hippie women across the freeway here in Berkeley.**

The camp snickered.

**A shadow fell over him. Stheno called down gleefully, "Clever boy! Found a goddess to carry, did you?"**

**A goddess?**

**June cackled with delight, muttering, "Whoops!" as a car almost killed them.**

"Woops!" Annabeth said when she heard this. "His life is on the line and she says, 'Woops'!"

**Somewhere off to his left, Euryale screamed, "Get them! Two prizes are better than one!"**

**Percy bolted across the remaining lanes. Somehow he made it to the median alive. He saw the gorgons swooping down, cars swerving as the monsters passed overhead. He wondered what the mortals saw through the Mist—giant pelicans? Off-course hang gliders? The wolf Lupa had told him that mortal minds could believe just about anything—except the truth.**

"They can't handle the truth!" The Stolls yelled, making the camp laugh.

Annabeth waited for the laughter to die down before she continued.

**Percy ran for the door in the hillside. June got heavier with every step. Percy's heart pounded. His ribs ached.**

**One of the guards yelled. The guy with the bow nocked an arrow. Percy shouted, "Wait!"**

**But the boy wasn't aiming at him. The arrow flew over Percy's head. A gorgon wailed in pain.**

"Nice shot," Thalia praised. "Son of Apollo?"

**The second guard readied her spear, gesturing frantically at Percy to hurry.**

**Fifty feet from the door. Thirty feet.**

"**Gotcha!" shrieked Euryale. Percy turned as an arrow thudded into her forehead.**

"He does have really good aim." Will said in admiration.

**Euryale tumbled into the fast lane. A truck slammed into her and carried her backward a hundred yards, but she just climbed over the cab, pulled the arrow out of her head, and launched back into the air. **

**Percy reached the door. "Thanks," he told the guards. "Good shot." **

"**That should've killed her!" the archer protested.**

"**Welcome to my world," Percy muttered.**

"**Frank," the girl said. "Get them inside, quick! Those are gorgons."**

"I don't remember a Frank?" Jason said, frustrated.

"**Gorgons?" The archer's voice squeaked. It was hard to tell much about him under the helmet, but he looked stout like a wrestler, maybe fourteen or fifteen. "Will the door hold them?" **

**In Percy's arms, June cackled. "No, no it won't. Onward, Percy Jackson! Through the tunnel, over the river!"**

"To Camp Jupiter we go!" Leo sang.

"**Percy Jackson?" The female guard was darker-skinned, with curly hair sticking out the sides of her helmet. She looked younger than Frank—maybe thirteen. Her sword scabbard came down almost to her ankle. Still, she sounded like she was the one in charge. **

No one noticed the small smile that grew on Nico's face.

"**Okay, you're obviously a demigod. But who's the—?" She glanced at June. "Never mind. Just get inside. I'll hold them off." **

"**Hazel," the boy said. "Don't be crazy." **

"I remember Hazel!" Jason yelled, overjoyed. "She was one of my friends.

"**Go!" she demanded. **

**Frank cursed in another language—was that Latin?—and opened the door. "Come on!"**

**Percy followed, staggering under the weight of the old lady, who was **_**definitely**_** getting heavier. He didn't know how that girl Hazel would hold off the gorgons by herself, but he was too tired to argue.**

**The tunnel cut through solid rock, about the width and height of a school hallway. At first, it looked like a typical maintenance tunnel, with electric cables, warning signs, and fuse boxes on the walls, lightbulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As they ran deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke. A few hundred yards ahead, Percy saw a square of daylight.**

"Sorry I'm late" Someone said running into the Pavilion.

Annabeth looked up from the book to see her friend Grover and his girlfriend Juniper.

"Take a seat, we are only on chapter two" Chiron said as they made their way to a free spot.

Annabeth took that as her signal to continue reading.

**The old lady was heavier now than a pile of sandbags. Percy's arms shook from the strain.**

**June mumbled a song in Latin, like a lullaby, which didn't help Percy concentrate.**

"She's doing it on purpose." Annabeth muttered, annoyed

**Behind them, the gorgons' voices echoed in the tunnel. Hazel shouted. Percy was tempted to dump June and runback to help, but then the entire tunnel shook with the rumble of falling stone. There was a squawking sound, just like the gorgons had made when Percy had dropped a crate of bowling balls on them in Napa. He glanced back. The west end of the tunnel was now filled with dust. **

"**Shouldn't we check on Hazel?" he asked. **

"**She'll be okay—I hope," **

"That doesn't sound reassuring." Nico said.

No one noticed the sound of worry and annoyance in his tone.

**Frank said. "She's good underground. Just keep moving! We're almost there." **

"**Almost where?" **

**June chuckled. "All roads lead there, child. You should know that." **

Detention? Thalia put in.

"**Detention?" Percy asked.**

She scowled. He camp laughed. Chiron and Annabeth smiled.

"I once told Percy that you two were so alike that you'd either be best friends or worst enemies." Annabeth told her chuckling.

"I'm glad were friends then." Thalia grumbled, obviously annoyed that they thought alike.

"**Rome, child," the old woman said. "Rome." **

**Percy wasn't sure he'd heard her right. True, his memory was gone. His brain hadn't felt right since he had woken up at the Wolf House. But he was pretty sure Rome wasn't in California. **

"Captain Obvious" some camper said.

**They kept running. The glow at the end of the tunnel grew brighter, and finally they burst into sunlight.**

**Percy froze. Spread out at his feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear rivercut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G.**

**The geography could've been anywhere in northern California—live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. That big inland mountain—what was it called, Mount Diablo?—rose in the distance, right where it should be. **

"Bad memories there." Annabeth said, fingering the grey streak in her hair.

Thalia nodded in agreement.

**But Percy felt like he'd stepped into a secret world. In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. He could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack.**

"Wow," Annabeth mumbled in awe. "The architecture must be amazing."

**Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with even more impressive buildings—temples, Percy guessed. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. Percy thought it looked like an elevated train track. Then he realized it must be an aqueduct.**

"Wow, he's getting good at this learning thing" Thalia added, chuckling.

**The strangest part of the valley was right below him. About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. **

"I like these Romans" Clarisse grinned.

**Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading toward the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor. Percy heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire.**

"Now, that's my kind of scene" Leo smiled.

**Something about this place felt very familiar, yet not quite right. **

"**Camp Jupiter," Frank said. "We'll be safe once—" **

**Footsteps echoed in the tunnel behind them. Hazel burst into the light. **

Nico breathed a sigh of relief.

**She was covered with stone dust and breathing hard. She'd lost her helmet, so her curly brown hair fell around her shoulders. Her armor had long slash marks in front from the claws of a gorgon. One of the monsters had tagged her with a 50% off sticker.**

"**I slowed them down," she said. "But they'll be here any second." **

**Frank cursed. "We have to get across the river."**

**June squeezed Percy's neck tighter. "Oh, yes, please. I can't get my dress wet."**

**Percy bit his tongue. If this lady was a goddess, she must've been the goddess of smelly, heavy, useless hippies. **

"Oh damn." Leo yelled.

**But he'd come this far. He'd better keep lugging her along. **

_**It's a kindness,**_** she'd said. **_**And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. **_

**If this was a test, he couldn't afford to get an F.**

**He stumbled a few times as they ran for the river. Frank and Hazel kept him on his feet.**

"I feel like those two are going to be in this book a lot," Annabeth said. "I don't know how though."

**They reached the riverbank, and Percy stopped to catch his breath. The current was fast, but the river didn't look deep. Only a stone's throw across stood the gates of the fort.**

"**Go, Hazel." Frank nocked two arrows at once. "Escort Percy so the sentries don't shoot him. It's my turn to hold off the baddies." **

"Baddies?" Leo snickered.

**Hazel nodded and waded into the stream. **

**Percy started to follow, but something made him hesitate. Usually he loved the water, but this river seemed…powerful, and not necessarily friendly.**

"**The Little Tiber," said June sympathetically. "It flows with the power of the original Tiber, river of the empire. This is your last chance to back out, child. The mark of Achilles is a Greek blessing. You can't retain it if you cross into Roman territory. The Tiber will wash it away."**

"No!" Nico moaned.

**Percy was too exhausted to understand all that, but he got the main point. "If I cross, I won't have iron skin anymore?"**

**June smiled. "So what will it be? Safety, or a future of pain and possibility?"**

**Behind him, the gorgons screeched as they flew from the tunnel. Frank let his arrows fly.**

**From the middle of the river, Hazel yelled, "Percy, come on!" **

**Up on the watchtowers, horns blew. The sentries shouted and swiveled their crossbows toward the gorgons.**

**Annabeth**_**, **_**Percy thought. He forged into the river. **

"Aww," Lacy said. "You're his motivation."

**It was icy cold, much swifter than he'd imagined, but that didn't bother him. New strength surged through his limbs. His senses tingled like he'd been injected with caffeine. He reached the other side and put the old woman down as the camp's gates opened. Dozens of kids in armor poured out.**

**Hazel turned with a relieved smile. Then she looked over Percy's shoulder, and her expression changed to horror. "Frank!" **

**Frank was halfway across the river when the gorgons caught him. They swooped out of the sky and grabbed him by either arm. He screamed in pain as their claws dug into his skin. **

**The sentries yelled, but Percy knew they couldn't get a clear shot. They'd end up killing Frank. The other kids drew swords and got ready to charge into the water, but they'd be too late. **

**There was only one way.**

"Get Ready" Grover said, knowing the power Percy gets when a friend is in need.

**Percy thrust out his hands. An intense tugging sensation filled his gut, and the Tiber obeyed his will. The river surged. Whirlpools formed on either side of Frank. Giant watery hands erupted from the stream, copying Percy's movements. The giant hands grabbed the gorgons, who dropped Frank in surprise. Then the hands lifted the squawking monsters in a liquid vise grip.**

"Wow" Most of the camp echoed.

"His so powerful" Piper muttered.

Jason looked over at her. She noticed his lingering gaze and kissed his cheek snuggling closer to him.

**Percy heard the other kids yelping and backing away, but he stayed focused on his task. He made a smashing gesture with his fists, and the giant hands plunged the gorgons into the Tiber. The monsters hit bottom and broke into dust. Glittering clouds of gorgon essence struggled to re-form, but the river pulled them apart like a blender. Soon every trace of the gorgons was swept downstream. The whirlpools vanished, and the current returned to normal. **

**Percy stood on the riverbank. His clothes and his skin steamed as if the Tiber's waters had given him an acid bath. He felt exposed, raw…vulnerable.**

"All that effort, all the time it took and its gone." Nico muttered.

**In the middle of the Tiber, Frank stumbled around, looking stunned but perfectly fine. Hazel waded out and helped him ashore. Only then did Percy realize how quiet the other kids had become. **

**Everyone was staring at him. Only the old lady June looked unfazed. **

"**Well, that was a lovely trip," she said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."**

"I hate her" Annabeth mumbled under her breath.

**One of the girls made a choking sound. "Percy…Jackson?"**

Now this got everyone confused.

"Someone from the Roman camp knows Percy?" Thalia questioned.

"A girl?" Annabeth asked furiously.

**She sounded as if she recognized his name. Percy focused on her, hoping to see a familiar face.**

**She was obviously a leader. She wore a regal purple cloak over her armor. Her chest was decorated with medals. She must have been about Percy's age, with dark, piercing eyes and long black hair. Percy didn't recognize her, but the girl stared at him as if she'd seen him in her nightmares.**

"Reyna!" Jason gasped.

"Who?" Annabeth asked, interested.

"She's the other Praetor, the leader of Camp Jupiter." Jason said. "I don't know how she knows Percy though."

**June laughed with delight. "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together!"**

"Fun?" Annabeth gritted her teeth.

**Then, just because the day hadn't been weird enough already, the old lady began to glow and change form. She grew until she was a shining, seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that looked like goat's skin over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower.**

"The symbol of Juno" Jason and Annabeth said. Jason, growing up with it and Annabeth from doing her research.

**If it was possible for the campers to look more stunned, they did. The girl with the purple cloak knelt. The others followed her lead. One kid got down so hastily he almost impaled himself on his sword.**

"Idiot." Clarisse muttered.

**Hazel was the first to speak. "Juno."**

**She and Frank also fell to their knees, leaving Percy the only one standing. He knew he should probably kneel too, but after carrying the old lady so far, he didn't feel like showing her that much respect.**

"Yeah, Go Percy!" Thalia yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

"**Juno, huh?" he said. "If I passed your test, can I have my memory and my life back?"**

**The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet."**

**She turned to the other kids. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. For months he has been slumbering, but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortune comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in the battle. Do not fail me!"**

"The Feast of Fortune?" Katie asked.

**Juno shimmered and disappeared. Percy looked at Hazel and Frank for some kind of explanation, but they seemed just as confused as he was. Frank was holding something Percy hadn't noticed before—two small clay flasks with cork stoppers, like potions, one in each hand.**

**Percy had no idea where they'd come from, but he saw Frank slip them into his pockets. Frank gave him a look like: **_**We'll talk about it later. **_

"Gorgons blood." Annabeth said, interrupting herself. "The one from the right side can heal and the one from the left side is poison."

**The girl in the purple cloak stepped forward. She examined Percy warily, and Percy couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to run him through with her dagger.**

'_Well, at least she isn't trying to steal him from me' Annabeth thought._

"**So," she said coldly, "a son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno."**

"**Look," he said, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's **_**gone**_**, actually. Do I know you?"**

"That's what I wanna know." Thalia said.

**The girl hesitated. "I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And…no, I don't know you." **

**That last part was a lie. Percy could tell from her eyes. But he also understood that if he argued with her about it here, in front of her soldiers, she wouldn't appreciate it.**

"Smart move." Jason said.

"**Hazel," said Reyna, "bring him inside. I want to question him at the **_**principia. **_**Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him." **

"What does she mean," Annabeth said, "decide what to do with him"

"**What do you mean," Percy asked, "'decide what to do with' me?" **

**Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Obviously she was not used to having her orders questioned. "Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us as a new recruit.…"**

**Reyna studied Percy as if she found that doubtful.**

"**Or," she said more hopefully, "if she's brought us an enemy to kill." **

"They better not kill him." Annabeth said.

"They won't, his too powerful for them to just kill." Jason said, defensively.

"Fine" She muttered, handing him the book.

"**Chapter Three – Percy III"**

* * *

**So….how was it?**

**I cant wait for everyone to find out about Nico! I love writing that bit **

**Read and Review! Flames are welcome  
-Hopexx**


	4. Percy III

**Hey guys, everyone is waiting for the big revealing moment when Annabeth finds out about Nicos little adventures to the Roman camp ****so I would LOVE it if you commented some good ideas of his reaction and what she does to him.**

**I was planning on making Annabeth feel sorry for him when he tells her about Bianca choosing rebirth and how he wanted to make sure Hazel didn't die on him too. (Is that a good idea?)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the PJO characters but some of the comments I put down are ones that have been requested by others in PMs and Reviews.**

* * *

"**Chapter Three – Percy III"**

**PERCY WASN'T SCARED OF GHOSTS,**** which was lucky.**

"Why would that be _lucky_?" Leo asked.

**Half the people in camp were dead.**

"Oh." Was all he said.

**Shimmering purple warriors stood outside the armory, polishing ethereal swords. Others hung out in front of the barracks. A ghostly boy chased a ghostly dog down the street. And at the stables, a big glowing red dude with the head of a wolf guarded a herd of…Were those unicorns?**

"And here I thought the romans were tough" Connor joked, snickering at his brother.

**None of the campers paid the ghosts much attention, but as Percy's entourage walked by, with Reyna in the lead and Frank and Hazel on either side, all the spirits stopped what they were doing and stared at Percy. A few looked angry. The little boy ghost shrieked something like "Greggus!" and turned invisible. **

"Greggus?" Malcom questioned.

**Percy wished he could turn invisible too. After weeks on his own, all this attention made him uneasy. He stayed between Hazel and Frank and tried to look inconspicuous.**

"**Am I seeing things?" he asked. "Or are those—"**

"**Ghosts?" Hazel turned. She had startling eyes, like fourteen-karat gold. **

Some of the campers looked down, remembered Luke's eyes when he hosted Kronos.

"**They're Lares. House gods."**

"**House gods," Percy said. "Like…smaller than real gods, but larger than apartment gods?"**

The whole camp laughed while Annabeth and Thalia smiled at each other.

"Same old Percy," Thalia said. "Taking the seriousness out of the situation with a lame joke."

"**They're ancestral spirits," Frank explained. He'd removed his helmet, revealing a babyish face that didn't go with his military haircut or his big burly frame. He looked like a toddler who'd taken steroids and joined the Marines.**

Leo snickered at the Metaphor, nearly falling off his log in the process.

"**The Lares are kind of like mascots," he continued. "Mostly they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated." **

"**They're staring at me," Percy said. "That ghost kid called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg." **

"Oh," Jason said, a lightbulb going off in his head. "They're saying Graecus. It means Greek in Latin."

"_**Graecus," **_**Hazel said. "Once you've been here awhile, you'll start understanding Latin. Demigods have a natural sense for it. **_**Graecus**_** means Greek." **

"He won't know Latin because he's a Greek demigod." Annabeth said, "His brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek, not Latin."

"**Is that bad?" Percy asked.**

**Frank cleared his throat. "Maybe not. You've got that type of complexion, the dark hair and all. Maybe they think you're actually Greek. Is your family from there?"**

"Is your family _from _there," Chris joked. "His family are _Gods _of there."

"**Don't know. Like I said, my memory is gone."**

"**Or maybe…" Frank hesitated.**

"**What?" Percy asked.**

"**Probably nothing," Frank said. "Romans and Greeks have an old rivalry. Sometimes Romans use **_**graecus**_** as an insult for someone who's an outsider—an enemy. I wouldn't worry about it." **

"_Were _not their enemies," Piper said. "Gaea is."

**He sounded pretty worried.**

**They stopped at the center of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a ****T****. **

**A street sign labeled the road to the main gates as via praetoria. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp, was labeled via principalis. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like berkeley 5 miles; NEW ROME 1 MILE; OLD ROME 7280 MILES; HADES 2310 MILES (pointing straight down); RENO 208 MILES, AND CERTAIN DEATH: YOU ARE HERE!**

"Why did they call him Hades on the sign when he is meant to be called Pluto." An Athena camper asked.

"I don't know." Annabeth replied, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Most of the camp gasped.

"Annabeth Chase, doesn't _know _something!" A random camper shouted out.

"Just cause I'm a Daughter of Athena," Annabeth started. "'doesn't mean I know _everything."_

She waved at Jason to read on.

**For certain death, the place looked pretty clean and orderly. The buildings were freshly whitewashed, laid out in neat grids like the camp had been designed by a fussy math teacher. The barracks had shady porches, where campers lounged in hammocks or played cards and drank sodas. Each dorm had a different collection of banners out front displaying Roman numerals and various animals—eagle, bear, wolf, horse, and something that looked like a hamster.**

**Along the Via Praetoria, rows of shops advertised food, armor, weapons, coffee, gladiator equipment, and toga rentals. A chariot dealership had a big advertisement out front: CAESAR XLS W/ANTILOCK BRAKES, NO DENARII DOWN!**

"What's Denarii?" Leo questioned.

"The Greeks have Drachma, we have Denarii" Jason explained.

**At one corner of the crossroads stood the most impressive building—a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out front. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.**

"**Your headquarters?" Percy asked.**

"Headquarters?" Annabeth chuckled. "Really, Seaweed Brain?"

"You're talking to a book." Travis snickered.

Annabeth sent him a quick death glare. That got him to shut up

**Reyna faced him, her eyes still cold and hostile. "It's called the **_**principia."**_

**She scanned the mob of curious campers who had followed them from the river. "Everyone back to your duties. I'll give you an update at evening muster. Remember, we have war games after dinner."**

**The thought of dinner made Percy's stomach rumble. The scent of barbecue from the dining hall made his mouth water. The bakery down the street smelled pretty wonderful too, but he doubted Reyna would let him get an order to go.**

**The crowd dispersed reluctantly. Some muttered comments about Percy's chances. **

"**He's dead," said one. **

"**Would be **_**those**_** two who found him," said another. **

"**Yeah," muttered another. "Let him join the Fifth Cohort. Greeks and geeks."**

"Hey!" Everyone shouted.

**Several kids laughed at that, but Reyna scowled at them, and they cleared off.**

"She's kind of like you, Annabeth." Connor pointed out.

"**Hazel," Reyna said. "Come with us. I want your report on what happened at the gates."**

"**Me too?" Frank said. "Percy saved my life. We've got to let him—" **

**Reyna gave Frank such a harsh look, he stepped back.**

"**I'd remind you, Frank Zhang," she said, "you are on **_**probatio**_** yourself. You've caused enough trouble this week." **

Everyone looked at Jason.

"Probatio means new camper." Jason explained.

**Frank's ears turned red. He fiddled with a little tablet on a cord around his neck. Percy hadn't paid much attention to it, but it looked like a name tag made out of lead.**

"**Go to the armory," Reyna told him. "Check our inventory. I'll call you if I need you."**

"**But—" Frank caught himself. "Yes, Reyna." He hurried off. **

"She has got some serious power." Will said.

**Reyna waved Hazel and Percy toward the headquarters. "Now, Percy Jackson, let's see if we can improve your memory." **

**The **_**principia**_** was even more impressive inside. On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf (Lupa had told Percy that story a million times). **

Leo laughed, "Mama she-wolf." Then he said "Isn't she wolf a song by Shakira?"

"Oh, Leo," Piper rolled her eyes. "Maybe there isn't any hope for you."

"Hey-hey, Beauty Queen!" Leo glared at her. He saw Jason snickering. "You too, Sparky!"

**The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet, so Percy felt like he was inside the world's most expensive camping tent. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals—military symbols, Percy guessed. In the center was one empty display stand, as if the main banner had been taken down for cleaning or something.**

**In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. Percy wondered what was down there—monsters? Treasure? Amnesiac demigods who had gotten on Reyna's bad side? **

"Shes not that mean" Jason chuckled.

**In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans, which seemed kind of out of place. Two life-sized statues of greyhounds—one silver, one gold—flanked the table. **

"I remember them!" Jason exclaimed.

**Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs. Percy wished he could sit in the other, but Hazel remained standing. Percy got the feeling he was supposed to also.**

"**So…" he started to say.**

**The dog statues bared their teeth and growled. **

**Percy froze. Normally he liked dogs, but these glared at him with ruby eyes. Their fangs looked sharp as razors.**

"**Easy, guys," Reyna told the greyhounds.**

**They stopped growling, but kept eyeing Percy as though they were imagining him in a doggie bag.**

Leo snickered. "A doggie bag?"

"**They won't attack," Reyna said, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum." **

"**Silver and Gold," Percy said. The Latin meanings popped into his head like Hazel had said they would. **

"What?" Annabeth questioned, taken aback.

"How did he understand the Latin meanings?" Thalia asked in awe.

"My Seaweed Brain is getting smarter." Annabeth said, not looking happy about it.

**He almost asked which dog was which. Then he realized that that was a stupid question.**

"Ok, now I know he's the same old Seaweed Brain." Annabeth snorted.

"And you're glad he hasn't changed." Thalia added.

**Reyna set her dagger on the table. Percy had the vague feeling he'd seen her before. Her hair was black and glossy as volcanic rock, woven in a single braid down her back. She had the poise of a sword fighter—relaxed yet vigilant, as if ready to spring into action at any moment. The worry lines around her eyes made her look older than she probably was.**

"Hes checking her out." Travis snickered.

Annabeth glared at him, fingering her dagger. "Wanna say that again?"

"No" He squeaked.

"**We **_**have **_**met," he decided. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything—"**

"When did Percy meet a Roman." Annabeth asked, deep in thought.

"**First things first," Reyna said. "I want to hear your story. What **_**do**_** you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars." **

**Argentum and Aurum snarled to emphasize the point.**

**Percy told his story—how he'd woken up at the ruined mansion in the woods of Sonoma. He described his time with Lupa and her pack, learning their language of gestures and expressions, learning to survive and fight. **

**Lupa had taught him about demigods, monsters, and gods. **

"Lucky he had Lupa to help," Katie said. "Otherwise he wouldn't of survived that long."

**She'd explained that she was one of the guardian spirits of Ancient Rome. Demigods like Percy were still responsible for carrying on Roman traditions in modern times—fighting monsters, serving the gods, protecting mortals, and upholding the memory of the empire. She'd spent weeks training him, until he was as strong and tough and vicious as a wolf. When she was satisfied with his skills, she'd sent him south, telling him that if he survived the journey, he might find a new home and regain his memory.**

**None of it seemed to surprise Reyna. In fact, she seemed to find it pretty ordinary—except for one thing.**

"**No memory at all?" she asked. "You **_**still**_** remember nothing?"**

"She wants him to remember how he met her." Thalia said.

"**Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds. He didn't want to mention Annabeth.**

"Why not?" Annabeth muttered sadly.

**It seemed too private, and he was still confused about where to find her. He was sure they'd met at a camp—but this one didn't feel like the right place.**

"Oh," She smiled.

**Also, he was reluctant to share his one clear memory: Annabeth's face, her blond hair and gray eyes, the way she laughed, threw her arms around him, and gave him a kiss whenever he did something stupid.**

"You must of kissed him a lot," Nico said.

**She must have kissed me a lot, Percy thought.**

The whole camp laughed at the similarities between the two cousins.

"I guess it's not just me who thinks like Percy," Thalia said. "Isn't that right Death Breath."

**He feared that if he spoke about that memory to anyone, it would evaporate like a dream. He couldn't risk that. **

"Aww that's so sweet." The Aphrodite cabin cooed.

**Reyna spun her dagger. "Most of what you're describing is normal for demigods. At a certain age, one way or another, we find our way to the Wolf House. We're tested and trained. **

**If Lupa thinks we're worthy, she sends us south to join the legion. But I've never heard of someone losing his memory. How did you find Camp Jupiter?"**

**Percy told her about the last three days—the gorgons who wouldn't die, the old lady who turned out to be a goddess, and finally meeting Hazel and Frank at the tunnel in the hill.**

**Hazel took the story from there. She described Percy as brave and heroic, which made him uncomfortable. All he'd done was carry a hippie bag lady.**

"Still love the way he described Hera" Leo snickered.

**Reyna studied him. "You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?" **

"**I think so," Percy said.**

"**If you spent that many years on your own, without training or help, you should be dead. A son of Neptune? You'd have a powerful aura that would attract all kinds of monsters."**

"**Yeah," Percy said. "I've been told that I smell." **

**Reyna almost cracked a smile, which gave Percy hope. Maybe she was human after all.**

"Reyna never smiles." Jason said. "If Percy can get her to full on smile, he will forever be a legend."

"**You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," she said. **

"Camp Half-Blood!" Everyone yelled.

**Percy shrugged. Juno had said something about him slumbering, and he **_**did**_** have a vague feeling that he'd been asleep—maybe for a long time. But that didn't make sense. **

"He's always loved his sleep" Annabeth joked.

**Reyna sighed. "Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so I suppose you're telling the truth."**

"**Great," Percy said. "Next time, can I take a polygraph?"**

**Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth.**

"See," Jason said. "She never smiles."

"**Even if I accept that you're not an enemy," she said, "you're not a typical recruit. The Queen of Olympus simply doesn't appear at camp, announcing a new demigod. The last time a major god visited us in person like that…" She shook her head. "I've only heard legends about such things. And a son of Neptune…that's not a good omen. Especially now." **

_What does she mean by 'especially now'? _Annabeth thought

"**What's wrong with Neptune?" Percy asked. "And what do you mean, 'especially now'?" **

**Hazel shot him a warning look.**

**Reyna kept pacing. "You've fought Medusa's sisters, who haven't been seen in thousands of years. You've agitated our Lares, who are calling you a **_**graecus.**_** And you wear strange symbols—that shirt, the beads on your necklace. What do they mean?"**

"Well-" Travis trailed off after all the glares he was receiving.

"Right," He said, "A rhetorical question."

**Percy looked down at his tattered orange T-shirt. It might have had words on it at one point, but they were too faded to read. He should have thrown the shirt away weeks ago. It was worn to shreds, but he couldn't bear to get rid of it. He just kept washing it in streams and water fountains as best he could and putting it back on.**

**As for the necklace, the four clay beads were each decorated with a different symbol. One showed a trident. **

"The first Son of Poseidon in 300 years" Annabeth smiled.

**Another displayed a miniature Golden Fleece. **

"The year Percy, Annabeth and Tyson saved Grover, got the Golden Fleece and brought me back to life." Thalia said.

**The third was etched with the design of a maze, **

"The Battle of the Labyrinth, and the year Pan faded." Grover added, sadly.

**and the last had an image of a building—maybe the Empire State Building?—with names Percy didn't recognize engraved around it.**

"The second Titan war," Nico explained. "The names are of all the campers, satyrs and nymphs that died fighting for the Gods."

**The beads felt important, like pictures from a family album, but he couldn't remember what they meant.**

"**I don't know," he said. **

"**And your sword?" Reyna asked. **

"He hadn't used his sword yet in front of her," Annabeth said. "How does she know about it?"

**Percy checked his pocket. The pen had reappeared as it always did. He pulled it out, but then realized he'd never shown Reyna the sword. Hazel and Frank hadn't seen it either. How had Reyna known about it?**

**Too late to pretend it didn't exist.…He uncapped the pen. Riptide sprang to full form. Hazel gasped. The greyhounds barked apprehensively.**

"**What is that?" Hazel asked. "I've never seen a sword like that." **

"**I have," Reyna said darkly. "It's very old—a Greek design. We used to have a few in the armory before…" She stopped herself. "The metal is called Celestial bronze. It's deadly to monsters, like Imperial gold, but even rarer."**

"Ha! We have rarer swords than the almighty Romans!" Leo yelled. "No offence Buddy" He added, turning to Jason.

"**Imperial gold?" Percy asked.**

**Reyna unsheathed her dagger. Sure enough, the blade was gold. "The metal was consecrated in ancient times, at the Pantheon in Rome. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors—a way for their champions to slay monsters that threatened the empire. We used to have more weapons like this, but now…well, we scrape by. I use this dagger. Hazel has a **_**spatha,**_** a cavalry sword. Most legionnaires use a shorter sword called a **_**gladius. **_**But that weapon of yours is not Roman at all. It's another sign you're not a typical demigod. And your arm..."**

"**What about it?" Percy asked.**

**Reyna held up her own forearm. Percy hadn't noticed before, but she had a tattoo on the inside: the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, and under that, four parallel lines like score marks.**

Everyone threw a questioning glance at Jason.

"The crossed sword and torch means she is a daughter of Bellona." He explained.

"The Goddess of War," Annabeth remembered. "She doesn't have a Greek side, she's fully Roman."

"And the four parallel lines mean she has been a part of the legion for 4 years." Jason finished.

**Percy glanced at Hazel.**

"**We all have them," she confirmed, holding up her arm. "All full members of the legion do."**

**Hazel's tattoo also had the letters SPQR, but she only had one score mark, and her emblem was different: a black glyph like a cross with curved arms and a head.**

"She is a daughter of Pluto. Or Hades in your case," Jason said.

Everyone turned to look at Nico.

"Doesn't the Big Three Oath count for the Romans too?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah it does, maybe Pluto broke the oath?" Jason questioned.

**Percy looked at his own arms. A few scrapes, some mud, and a fleck of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wiener, but no tattoos.**

"**So you've never been a member of the legion," Reyna said. "These marks can't be removed. I thought perhaps…" She shook her head, as if dismissing an idea.**

"So she does know him," Annabeth said, confirming her thought. _But from where?_

**Hazel leaned forward. "If he's survived as a loner all this time, maybe he's seen Jason." She turned to Percy. "Have you ever met a demigod like us before? A guy in a purple shirt, with marks on his arm—" **

"Here he is!" Leo yelled, holding up Jason's arm with the tattoo.

Jason swatted his arm away and picked up the book.

"**Hazel." Reyna's voice tightened. "Percy's got enough to worry about."**

**Percy touched the point of his sword, and Riptide shrank back into a pen. "I haven't seen anyone like you guys before. Who's Jason?" **

**Reyna gave Hazel an irritated look. "He is…he **_**was**_** my colleague." She waved her hand at the second empty chair. "The legion normally has two elected praetors. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was our other praetor until he disappeared last October." **

"October? But you came here in December when Percy disappeared," Annabeth said. Then she put two and two together. "It says he woke up two months ago, right?"

Jason checked in the front of the book. "Yeah, it says that," He said.

"So Hera put you to sleep, too." Annabeth finalised.

**Percy tried to calculate. He hadn't paid much attention to the calendar out in the wilderness, but Juno had mentioned that it was now June. "You mean he's been gone eight months, and you haven't replaced him?"**

"**He might not be dead," Hazel said. "We haven't given up."**

**Reyna grimaced. Percy got the feeling this guy Jason might've been more to her than just a colleague.**

Jason sat there blushing while Piper glared at her shoes, jealous that this Reyna girl knew Jason longer than she did.

"He can pick up on hints?" Annabeth asked incredulously.

"Why did it take four years then?" questioned everyone who had been there the whole time it took for the pair to get together.

"**Elections only happen in two ways," Reyna said. "Either the legion raises someone on a shield after a major success on the battlefield—and we haven't had any major battles—or we hold a ballot on the evening of June 24, at the Feast of Fortuna. That's in five days."**

**Percy frowned. "You have a feast for **_**tuna**_**?**_**" **_

Annabeth facepalmed.

"_**Fortuna," **_**Hazel corrected. "She's the goddess of luck. Whatever happens on her feast day can affect the entire rest of the year. She can grant the camp good luck…or **_**really **_**bad luck." **

"If Percy is there, its bad luck" Nico joked.

**Reyna and Hazel both glanced at the empty display stand, as if thinking about what was missing.**

**A chill went down Percy's back. "The Feast of Fortune…The gorgons mentioned that. So did Juno. They said the camp was going to be attacked on that day, something about a big bad goddess named Gaea, and an army, and Death being unleashed. You're telling me that day is this **_**week**_**?" **

"Wow, you weren't joking about his luck." Piper said looking at Nico.

**Reyna's fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger. **

"**You will say nothing about that outside this room," she ordered. "I will not have you spreading more panic in the camp."**

"**So it's true," Percy said. "Do you know what's going to happen? Can we stop it?" **

**Percy had just met these people. He wasn't sure he even liked Reyna. But he wanted to help. They were demigods, the same as him. They had the same enemies. Besides, Percy remembered what Juno had told him: it wasn't just this camp at risk. His old life, the gods, and the entire world might be destroyed. Whatever was coming down, it was huge.**

"That's his fatal flaw." Annabeth smiled. "Loyalty."

"**We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion."**

"**Yes, Reyna."**

**Percy still had so many questions, his brain felt like it would melt. But Reyna made it clear the audience was over. She sheathed her dagger. The metal dogs stood and growled, inching toward Percy.**

"**Good luck with the augury, Percy Jackson," she said. "If Octavian lets you live, perhaps we can compare notes…about your past." **

"I wanna read next!" Thalia yelled before anyone could.

Jason threw her the book and she flipped to the right page.

"**Chapter Four – Percy IV"**

* * *

**How was it? Can't wait to write about them finding out about Nico's surprise visits to the other side…**

**Please Review… Flames are most welcomes. I want to know where I messed up so I can fix it.  
-Hopexx**


	5. Percy IV

_**PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTE BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING THE STORY BELOW. THANKS.**_

**Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews on my last chapter…I took all the requests into consideration and used your ideas on this chapter. Thanks btw it helped a lot with my writing.**

**I also wanted to let you all know that I now have an Instagram account on books. (PJO, Divergent, Hunger Games etc) and If any of you have Instagram follow my account = books_and_percabeth**

**So go ahead and follow that as well as sending me a KIK message books_and_percabeth**

* * *

"**Chapter Four – Percy IV"**

**ON THE WAY OUT OF CAMP, ****Hazel bought him an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant. **

"Bombilo" Leo snickered. "'that's fun to say"

**Percy inhaled the muffin. The coffee was great. Now, Percy thought, if he could just get a shower, a change of clothes, and some sleep, he'd be golden. Maybe even Imperial golden.**

"Bad Pun, Percy." Travis said, shaking his head.

**He watched a bunch of kids in swimsuits and towels head into a building that had steam coming out of a row of chimneys. Laughter and watery sounds echoed from inside, like it was an indoor pool—Percy's kind of place.**

"**Bath house," Hazel said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath." Percy sighed with anticipation.**

"They really are the best baths." Jason said.

**As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better—with fancier armor and shinier auras. Percy tried to decipher the banners and symbols hanging in front of the buildings.**

"**You guys are divided into different cabins?" he asked.**

"**Sort of." Hazel ducked as a kid riding a giant eagle swooped overhead. "We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten—like roommates, kind of." **

"Don't they divide them by godly parent?" Annabeth questioned.

**Percy had never been great at math, but he tried to multiply.**

"This should be funny." Nico snickered.

"**You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?" **

"No way!" Clarisse yelled. "When did Prissy get smart?"

"**Roughly."**

"**And **_**all**_** of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy."**

The whole camp laughed.

"Wow, the Roman gods must have more children than the Greeks." Annabeth said, confused.

**Hazel laughed. "Not all of them are children of **_**major**_**gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies—second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods. Or their grandparents."**

**Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"**

"What?" Thalia said, interrupting herself. "The Romans live old enough to have children and families?"

"**Why? Does that surprise you?"**

**Percy wasn't sure. The last few weeks he'd been so worried about surviving day to day. The idea of living long enough to be an adult and have kids of his own—that seemed like an impossible dream.**

Everyone looked at Annabeth.

"Aww he wants to have kids with you one day." Lacy said, smiling.

Annabeth blushed and Thalia continued reading, noticing her friends sudden discomfort.

"**These Legos—"**

"**Legacies," Hazel corrected.**

"**They have powers like a demigod?"**

"**Sometimes. Sometimes not. But they can be trained. All the best Roman generals and emperors—you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy, supposedly."**

"**Supposedly?"**

"That's reassuring" Piper said sarcastically.

**Hazel made a sour face. "You'll see." **

"He's probably not as good as Rachel." Leo said.

Said girl smiled at the faith her friends had in her.

**That didn't make Percy feel so great, if this dude Octavian had Percy's fate in his hands. **

"**So the divisions," he asked, "the cohorts, whatever—you're divided according to who your godly parent is?"**

**Hazel stared at him. "What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be alone." **

"That's true, being a daughter of Pluto," Thalia said. "She'll be glad once she meets you." She said to Nico.

"Yeah, maybe" Nico said, keeping a poker face. No one seemed to notice how worried he was that he was introduced to Percy in the Roman camp and that might be in the book.

**Percy felt a twinge of sadness, like he'd been in that situation. "Why? What's your ancestry?"**

**Before she could answer, someone behind them yelled, "Wait!" **

**A ghost ran toward them—an old man with a medicine-ball belly and toga so long he kept tripping on it. He caught up to them and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him. **

"**This is him?" the ghost panted. "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"**

"**Vitellius," Hazel said, "we're sort of in a hurry."**

**The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around him, inspecting him like a used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does he have all his teeth? Can he fight? Does he clean stables?"**

"Yes, yes and yes" Annabeth snickered.

"**Yes, yes, and no," Percy said. "Who are you?"**

"Wrong!" Grover yelled, remembered when he went to Triple G Ranch with Percy, Annabeth, Tyson and Percy had to clean the stables.

"**Percy, this is Vitellius." Hazel's expression said: **_**Just humor him. **_**"He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits." **

**On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt. **

"**Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day—that's **_**Julius **_**Caesar, mind you—the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a **_**spatha. **_**Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire—that's for cavalry! And you, boy—you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"**

"He's been to busy fighting monsters." Annabeth said.

"**I've been a little busy fighting gorgons," Percy said.**

Annabeth smiled.

"**Vitellius," Hazel interrupted, "we've got to get Percy's augury before he can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You **_**know**_** how much he values your help."**

**The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty! They let the **_**probatio **_**check the armor? We'll be ruined!" **

**He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.**

"**O-h-h-kay," Percy said.**

"**Sorry," Hazel said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."**

"**He called the legion…**_**Fulminata?" **_**Percy said. **

"'**Armed with Lightning,'" Hazel translated. "That's our motto.**

"Do we have a Motto?" Leo asked Chiron."

"No, Child." He said smiling.

"We should totally have one," Leo continued. "How about, 'Its Party Time!'"

Thalia rolled her eyes and continued reading.

**The Twelfth Legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We've been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America." **

**As bizarre as that sounded, Percy had no trouble believing it. In fact, it sounded familiar, like something he'd always known. **

"**And you're in the Fifth Cohort," he guessed, "which maybe isn't the most popular?"**

"Understatement of the century." Jason said.

**Hazel scowled. "Yeah. I joined up last September."**

"**So…just a few weeks before that guy Jason disappeared."**

"Yeah," Jason decided. "She _was_ one of my friends."

**Percy knew he'd hit a sore spot. Hazel looked down. She was silent long enough to count every paving stone.**

"It must be nice knowing your friends miss you." Piper whispered to Jason, smiling.

He nodded, smiling back at his girlfriend.

"**Come on," she said at last. "I'll show you my favorite view." **

**They stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything.**

**The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome. Unlike the military camp, the city looked chaotic and colorful, with buildings crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, Percy could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.**

Annabeth sighed wistfully.

"**You've got families here?" he asked.**

"Little Prissy wants a family." Clarisse said, laughing.

She shut up after she received a menacing glare from Annabeth.

"**In the city, absolutely," Hazel said. "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some—well, it's pretty dangerous out there. This valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion."**

**Adult demigods. Demigods who could live without fear, get married, raise a family. Percy couldn't quite wrap his mind around that. It seemed too good to be true.**

The Aphrodite cabin stared at Annabeth and she couldn't help but blush just thinking about it.

It was a dream she wanted to make reality.

"**But if this valley is attacked?" **

**Hazel pursed her lips. "We have defenses. The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing. What you said about the gorgons not dying…we've noticed that too, with other monsters." **

"That reminds me of when my tree was poisoned and the magical border was down too." Thalia said.

"**Do you know what's causing it?"**

**Hazel looked away. Percy could tell that she was holding something back—something she wasn't supposed to say. **

"**It's—it's complicated," she said. "My brother says Death isn't—" **

"Her brother?" Jason asked confusingly.

Nico got the shadows ready to run for when he was finally mentioned.

**She was interrupted by an elephant.**

"That was random." Leo said, staring at the book.

**Someone behind them shouted, "Make way!"**

**Hazel dragged Percy out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar armor. The word elephant was printed on the side of his armor, which seemed a little obvious to Percy.**

Leo snickered. "Why do the Romans have an elephant?"

"Hold on, it explains soon." Thalia said reading ahead.

**The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction. **

**Percy spit dust out of his mouth. "What the—?"**

"**Elephant," Hazel explained.**

"No duh." Leo said sarcastically.

"**Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"**

"**War games tonight," Hazel said. "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."**

"They get to use an elephant during their war games!" Connor yelled.

"Chiron-" Travis started.

"No." Chiron cut him off.

"**We can't have that." **

The Stolls snickered.

**Hazel laughed. It was hard to believe she'd looked so moody a moment ago. Percy wondered what she'd been about to say. She had a brother. Yet she had claimed she'd be alone if the camp sorted her by her godly parent.**

"Maybe he's mortal." Annabeth said.

**Percy couldn't figure her out. She seemed nice and easy going, mature for somebody who couldn't have been more than thirteen. But she also seemed to be hiding a deep sadness, like she felt guilty about something.**

"Maybe she's a murderer. "Leo said mysteriously.

Nico tried to hide his anger, knowing the truth of why Hazel was like that.

**Hazel pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.**

"**Octavian is busy," Hazel said. "We'd better get over there." **

**On the way, they passed some goat-legged guys hanging out on the side of the road. **

"Satyrs!" Grover yelled, happy to hear they play a part in camp too.

"**Hazel!" one of them cried. **

**He trotted over with a big grin on his face. He wore a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur. His massive Afro jiggled. His eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He held a cardboard sign that read: WILL WORKSINGTALK go away for denarii. **

Grover gaped at the book. "N-No, that's not right!" He yelled.

"Sorry Buddy," Jason said. "Fauns are poor and they don't work for the camp."

"**Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time—" **

"**Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with them. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and—"**

"**Don," Hazel chided. "Fauns don't have wallets. Or jobs. Or homes. And we don't have buses."**

Grover just whimpered.

"**Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"**

"**Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked.**

Leo snickered.

"**Yeah. So?" **

"**Nothing." Percy tried to keep a straight face. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?"**

**Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"**

"What's so funny about that?" Grover said, offended.

"**Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but—" **

"**Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"**

"Does he have _any _self-esteem?" Grover asked.

**The faun seemed harmless, but Percy still found him unsettling. He couldn't shake the feeling that fauns should be more than just homeless guys begging for denarii.**

"Hey, he kind of remembers me," Grover said. "If you think about it." He added after all the eye rolling and snickering he got.

**Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!" **

**He reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!"**

**She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small shiny object. Percy caught a glimpse of it before Hazel slipped it into her pocket. He could have sworn it was a diamond.**

"A diamond?" Travis said, clearly interested.

Nico glared at his shoes.

"**Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!" **

"**Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."**

**She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant.**

**The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by—"**

"**Good-bye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, Percy."**

**She started jogging. Percy had to sprint to catch up.**

"**What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road—" **

"**Please," she said. "Don't ask." **

"Hmm," Annabeth wondered. _Pluto, riches, death._

**They walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to TempleHill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods seemed to follow Percy with their eyes.**

**Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. "Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom."**

"Figures." Leo said.

**Then they passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.**

"**Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said.**

**Hazel shook her head. "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."**

"**Mars ... Ares, the war god?"**

Clarisse perked up at the mention of her father.

"**That's his Greek name," Hazel said. "But, yeah, same guy. Ultor means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome."**

Clarisse smiled cockily at everyone.

**Percy wasn't thrilled to hear that. For some reason, just looking at the ugly red building made him feel angry.**

**He pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Zeus—uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?" **

"**Yeah." Hazel sounded edgy. "Octavian reads auguries there—the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."**

**Percy had to think about it, but the Latin words clicked into English. "Jupiter…the best and the greatest?"**

"Oh yeah!" Thalia yelled. "Go Dad!"

Jason smiled.

"**Right."**

"**What's Neptune's title?" Percy asked. "The coolest and most awesome?"**

Jason winced.

"**Um, not quite." Hazel gestured to a small blue building the size of a toolshed. A cobweb-covered trident was nailed above the door. **

**Percy peeked inside. On a small altar sat a bowl with three dried-up, moldy apples.**

Everyone was surprised to hear that, Poseidon was one of the most important gods in the Greek camp.

**His heart sank. "Popular place."**

"**I'm sorry, Percy," Hazel said. "It's just…Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they **_**had**_** to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. The last time one joined the legion**

…**well, it was 1906, when Camp Jupiter was located across the bay in San Francisco. There was this huge earthquake—"**

"**You're telling me a child of Neptune caused that?"**

"**So they say." Hazel looked apologetic. "Anyway…**

**Romans fear Neptune, but they don't love him much." Percy stared at the cobwebs on the trident. Great, he thought. Even if he joined the camp, he would never be loved.**

"We love you!" The Stolls cried, wiping fake tears. "Maybe not as much as Annabeth but-" They were cut off when a dagger flew out of nowhere and hit the wall behind them.

"Sorry Annbeth." They said quickly, shrinking in their seats.

**His best hope was to be scary to his new campmates. Maybe if he did really well, they'd give him some moldy apples.**

Leo snickered.

**Still…standing at Neptune's altar, he felt something stirring inside him, like waves rippling through his veins. **

**He reached in his backpack and dug out the last bit of food from his trip—a stale bagel. It wasn't much, but he set it on the altar. **

"**Hey…uh, Dad." He felt pretty stupid talking to a bowl of fruit. "If you can hear me, help me out, okay? Give me my memory back. Tell me—tell me what to do."**

**His voice cracked. He hadn't meant to get emotional, but he was exhausted and scared, and he'd been lost for so long, he would've given anything for some guidance. He wanted to know something about his life for sure, without grabbing for missing memories.**

"Poor Percy." Annabeth whispered to herself, a lone tear falling from her eye. She quickly wiped it away before anyone noticed.

**Hazel put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. You're here now. You're one of us." **

**He felt awkward, depending on an eighth-grade girl he barely knew for comfort, but he was glad she was there.**

"Remind me to thank Hazel when we get there." Annabeth said.

Nico smiled from his seat, knowing his sister was already liked by most of the camp.

**Above them, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill. **

"**Octavian's almost done," Hazel said. "Let's go." **

**Compared to Neptune's tool shed, Jupiter's temple was definitely optimus and maximus.**

Thalia smiled proudly while Jason just smiled at the memory of his fathers temple.

**The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.**

**In the center stood a marble altar, where a kid in a toga was doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the big dude himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.**

"**It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered. **

"**What?" Hazel asked. **

"**The master bolt," Percy said.**

"Oh my gods," Annabeth said eyes wide.

Thalia fist pumped. "He's remembering now!"

"**What are you **_**talking**_** about?" **

"**I—" Percy frowned. For a second, he'd thought he remembered something. Now it was gone. "Nothing, I guess."**

"But not much," Thalia set her arm to her side.

**The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.**

**A pretty impressive trick, considering the kid didn't look like much. He was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga. He looked like a scarecrow wearing a bed sheet.**

Leo tried to hide his laughter at a scarecrow wearing a bed sheet but it wasn't working very well as he nearly fell of his log for the 3rd time that night.

"**What's he doing?" Percy murmured.**

**The guy in the toga turned. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, like he'd just been playing an intense video game. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was something like a dead animal. That didn't make him look any less crazy.**

"A dead animal!" Grover and his girlfriend Juniper cried. "That's animal cruelty."

"**Percy," Hazel said, "this is Octavian."**

"**The **_**graecus**_**!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."**

"**Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?"**

**Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."**

**He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disemboweled teddy bear.**

"A teddy bear?" Leo chuckled. "Oh yeah, Rachel is a way better Oracle that him."

**Then Percy noticed that there was a whole pile of mutilated stuffed animals at the foot of Jupiter's statue. **

"**Seriously?" Percy asked.**

**Octavian stepped off the dais. He was probably about eighteen, but so skinny and sickly pale, he could've passed for younger. At first he looked harmless, but as he got closer, Percy wasn't so sure. Octavian's eyes glittered with harsh curiosity, like he might gut Percy just as easily as a teddy bear if he thought he could learn something from it.**

**Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."**

"**You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who." **

"Who would he remind him of." Thalia sat there thinking for a while.

"Luke." Annabeth whispered.

The whole camp had a one minute of silence for the deceased hero.

"**Possibly my namesake, Octavian—Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance."**

**Percy didn't think that was it, but he couldn't pin down the memory. "Why did you call me 'the Greek'?" **

"**I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: **_**The Greek has arrived.**_** Or possibly: **_**The goose has cried. **_**I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?"**

"Yep, Rachel is way better," Piper confirmed.

**Hazel spoke for him. She told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel—the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, their conversation with Reyna.**

**When she mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.**

"**Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats."**

**He glanced at Percy, as if to say:**_** like mysterious Greeks, for instance. **_

"**I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"**

"Woop! Go Percy!" The Stolls and Leo yelled together.

"**Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."**

"**Don't you have…I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"**

"**An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended—"**

"**The Siba-what?" Percy asked.**

"**Books of prophecy," Hazel said, "which Octavian is **_**obsessed **_**with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell." **

"_**Some**_** people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them—" **

"**Because Reyna isn't stupid," Hazel said.**

"She is anything but stupid." Jason said.

"—**so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these." **

**He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor. Percy stared at the lines of words, not really expecting to understand them. He almost choked. **

"**That one." He pointed, translating as he read aloud:**_**"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall**_**—**_**" **_

"**Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: **_**"An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death." **_

"**I—I know that one." **

"Hes remembering little bits but then they fade." Katie said.

**Percy thought thunder was shaking the temple again. Then he realized his whole body was trembling. "That's **_**important.**_**" **

**Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Seven, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it…Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen."**

**Hazel glared at him. "Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?"**

"I definitely like her." Annabeth nodded approvingly.

Nico smiled, knowing that it's pretty hard to get Annabeth to like you.

**Percy could almost see Octavian's mind working, calculating whether or not Percy would be useful. He held out his hand for Percy's backpack. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"**

**Percy didn't understand what he meant, but Octavian snatched the Bargain Mart panda pillow that was sticking out of the top of his pack. It was just a silly stuffed toy, but Percy had carried it a long way. He was kind of fond of it.**

"Seriously Percy?" Thalia sighed.

**Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife. **

"**Hey!" Percy protested.**

**Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the panda carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face. **

"I can imagine that," Leo said. "He would look so creepy."

"**Good news!" he said. "Percy may join the legion. We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."**

**Hazel's shoulders relaxed. "Uh…great. Come on, Percy."**

"**Oh, and Hazel," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll remember—" **

"**Jason **_**isn't**_** dead," Hazel snapped. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!"**

"Thanks Hazel." Jason whispered.

"**Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you'll support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."**

**Hazel clenched her fists. "Me. Support. You?"**

**Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar. Percy noticed seven lines on Octavian's arm—seven years of camp, Percy guessed. Octavian's mark was a harp, the symbol of Apollo.**

"**After all," Octavian told Hazel, "I might be able to help you. It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating…or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true."**

"Hes blackmailing her!" Nico yelled.

Everyone stared at him.

"What? I was just told I had another sister that I never met, why can't I be protective now?" He said, making up a quick lie.

Annabeth stared at him noticing his sudden discomfort but waved it off.

**Percy slipped his hand into his pocket and grabbed his pen. This guy was blackmailing Hazel. That was obvious. One sign from Hazel, and Percy was ready to bust out Riptide and see how Octavian liked being at the other end of a blade.**

"Go Percy!" Thalia yelled.

**Hazel took a deep breath. Her knuckles were white. "I'll think about it." **

"**Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here." **

"Well that rules out the possibility of him being mortal." Annabeth said, confused.

**Hazel stiffened. "My brother? Why?"**

**Octavian shrugged. "Why does your brother do **_**anything**_**? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just…ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy."**

Nico glowered at the way Octavian was speaking about him. But more than that, he was nervous at everyone's reaction to his secret.

**Hazel stormed out of the pavilion, and Percy followed. He was sure he'd never been so glad to leave a temple in his life. **

**As Hazel marched down the hill, she cursed in Latin. Percy didn't understand all of it, but he got **_**son of a gorgon**_**, **_**power-hungry snake**_**, and a few choice suggestions about where Octavian could stick his knife. **

"**I **_**hate**_** that guy," she muttered in English. "If I had my way—"**

"**He won't really get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked.**

"I hope not," Jason muttered. "That would ruin Junos plan anyway."

"**I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them **_**bought**_**. The rest of the campers are afraid of him." **

"**Afraid of that skinny little guy?"**

"**Don't underestimate him. Reyna's not so bad by herself, but if Octavian shares her power…" Hazel shuddered. "Let's go see my brother. He'll want to meet you." **

**Percy didn't argue. He wanted to meet this mysterious brother, maybe learn something about Hazel's background—who her dad was, what secret she was hiding. Percy couldn't believe she'd done anything to be guilty about. She seemed too nice. But Octavian had acted like he had some first-class dirt on her. **

"I wanna know too." Annabeth said

**Hazel led Percy to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Standing in front was a teenage boy in black jeans and an aviator jacket. **

"Do all Sons of Hades/Pluto dress like that?" Leo snickered.

"**Hey," Hazel called. "I've brought a friend."**

**The boy turned. Percy had another one of those weird flashes: like this was somebody he should know. The kid was almost as pale as Octavian, but with dark eyes and messy black hair. He didn't look anything like Hazel. He wore a silver skull ring, a chain for a belt, and a black T-shirt with skull designs. At his side hung a pure-black sword.**

Thalia was glaring at the book as she read while everyone else stared at Nico.

**For a microsecond when he saw Percy, the boy seemed shocked—panicked even, like he'd been caught in a searchlight.**

"**This is Percy Jackson," Hazel said. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."**

**The boy regained his composure and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo." **

"What!" Annabeth yelled, getting out of her chair and stomping over to Nico.

Pushing him up against the wall with her dagger across his throat, Annabeth glared at him. "Explain." She spat.

"The Doors of Death were open so I went down to the underworld to bring Bianca back." He said quickly and quietly as Annabeth listened. She loosened her grip so he could stand properly while he explained.

"I went into Elysium to get her but Silena said she chose rebirth and I got angry because she didn't say goodbye to me." He continued. "On my way back to Hades Palace I saw a girl with an aura like mine and I found out she was also my sister so I decided to give her a second chance at life by bringing her back through the Doors of Death. One of the ghosts saw her and told me she was a daughter of Pluto, when I asked him what he meant by Pluto he explained the whole Roman ordeal to me and I took Hazel there to stay."

Annabeth eyes softened immediately at the mention of Bianca and Silena. She let go of him and wrapped him in a warm embrace instead, surprising everyone.

"She loved you Nico" She whispered. "But she couldn't wait around for ages just because you wanted her too, it was time she made her own choice."

Nico nodded and told them the rest of the story from becoming the Ambassador of Pluto to seeing Percy there without his memories. He stopped at that, not wanting to give away anything.

Annabeth nodded stiffly and walked back to her seat but not before turning around and glaring at him once more. "Just because I let you off the hook doesn't mean I won't get my revenge later on." She threatened him.

Thalia, who was standing there the whole time listening and observing, walked up to Nico and zapped him before smiling proudly at her handiwork before returning to her seat beside Annabeth.

Nico rubbed his arm in pain and grabbed the book, sitting down on the log across from Thalia and Annabeth.

"**Chapter Five – Hazel V"**

* * *

**How was it!? I included everything the comments said about finding out about Nico.**

**I'm going to try my best to update tomorrow but I'm going 2 be very busy so please don't get worried if I don't, I'm a very busy girl **

**Read and Review  
-Hopexx**


	6. Hazel V

**Hey guys, I feel so bad that I haven't updated in ages but school started and I had to focus on everything and get organised so once again, sorry **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and some of the story is inspired by my followers that give reviews.**

* * *

"**Chapter Five – Hazel V"**

**HAZEL FELT LIKE SHE'D JUST INTRODUCED**** two nuclear bombs. Now she was waiting to see which one exploded first.**

"That explains Percy and Nico pretty good." Thalia mused.

**Until that morning, her brother Nico had been the most powerful demigod she knew. The others at Camp Jupiter saw him as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns. **

"Oh, that's nice," Nico muttered.

**Hazel knew better. She hadn't grown up with Nico, hadn't even known him very long. But she knew Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason.**

"What?" Nico spluttered.

"Yeah, you are pretty powerful Nico," Thalia said to him.

**Then she'd met Percy.**

"It always happens," Annabeth smiles. "Percy is always the most powerful."

**At first, when she saw him stumbling up the highway with the old lady in his arms, Hazel had thought he might be a god in disguise. Even though he was beat up, dirty, and stooped with exhaustion, he'd had an aura of power. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind blown black hair. **

"_My _Seaweed Brain." Annabeth muttered under her breath.

**She'd ordered Frank not to fire on him. She thought the gods might be testing them. She'd heard myths like that: a kid with an old lady begs for shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse—**_**boom, **_**they get turned into banana slugs.**

"Banana slugs?" Leo snickered.

**Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk about the **_**graecus. **_

**A son of the sea god...**

**Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would save her. But could Percy really take away her curse? It seemed too much to hope for.**

"What curse?" Annabeth piped up suddenly interested.

"Sorry Annabeth, I can't tell you that." Nico said.

**Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, and Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords, things could get ugly.**

"I didn't know you were that good Nico?" Piper asked, interested.

Nico looked down at his shoes, embarrassed. "I'm not that good." He said.

"Yeah right, don't listen to him Piper," Thalia said. "The only people who can beat Nico are Percy, me and occasionally Clarisse."

**Nico didn't appear scary. He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled black clothes. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.**

Nico's hands went straight to his hair, trying to flatten it down.

Everyone noticed this and laughed.

**Hazel remembered when she'd met him. The first time she'd seen him draw that black sword of his, she'd almost laughed. The way he called it "Stygian iron," all serious-like—he'd looked ridiculous. **

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Haze." Nico muttered, rolling his eyes.

**This scrawny white boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed they were related.**

**She had changed her mind about that quick enough.**

**Percy scowled. "I—I know you."**

**Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" He looked at Hazel for explanation.**

"Wow, your good." Travis said to Nico.

Connor looked at his brother and they came to an understanding, this could help with all their pranks,\.

**Hazel hesitated. Something about her brother's reaction wasn't right. He was trying hard to act casual, but when he had first seen Percy, Hazel had noticed his momentary look of panic. Nico already knew Percy. She was sure of it. Why was he pretending otherwise? **

"Because if I told everyone I knew Percy then they would ask why and I would have to tell them that Percy is Greek and so am I and then they will think that both Percy and I are spies and that would ruin Hera's whole plain to bring the two camps together to save the freaking world." Nico explained all in one breathe.

**Hazel forced herself to speak. "Um…Percy's lost his memory." She told her brother what had happened since Percy had arrived at the gates.**

"**So, Nico…" she continued carefully, "I thought…you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."**

**Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus. Hazel didn't understand why, but she got the message: **_**Drop it. **_

"Nico, don't be so mean to your sister." Thalia scolded playfully.

"**This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"**

**Percy nodded. "Who is Gaea, anyway?"**

**Hazel's mouth went dry. Just hearing that name…It was all she could do to keep her knees from buckling. She remembered a woman's soft sleepy voice, a glowing cave, and feeling her lungs fill with black oil.**

"It seems like she personally has dealt with Gaea like us three." Jason asked.

"Maybe she is one of the Seven?" Piper asked.

"**She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it might be listening. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children." **

"**Mother Earth…is evil?" Percy asked.**

"Dude! That's exactly what I said." Leo exclaimed.

"**Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos—um, I mean, Saturn—to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. **

"A little slip up there Niccy." Thalia said.

"Don't call me Niccy."

**The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them."**

"**That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised, like an old memory had partially surfaced. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea."**

**Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband—Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least…the first time." **

"**The first time?" Percy repeated.**

**Nico glanced at Hazel. He probably wasn't meaning to make her feel guilty, but she couldn't help it. If Percy knew the truth about her, and the horrible things she'd done…**

"Is she a murderer?" Leo whispered creepily.

"No she is not and don't assume things you don't know." Nico growled.

Some of the younger campers looked at Nico scared and his face immediately softened. No one knew this but the Son of Hades always had a soft spot for children.

"**Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne. Saturn disappeared—" He hesitated, watching Percy's face. Hazel got the feeling her brother was nervous that more of Percy's memory might come back.**

"**Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods.…"**

"**You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.**

"**Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto…well, no offense, but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck." **

"Yeah that's because nobody likes you!" Mark, an Ares kid yelled.

Nico looked down at his shoes his face emotionless, trying not to let him know the sadness creeping through him.

Thalia stood up and walked over to Mark. She grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him in the air with the help of her brother who was controlling the air.

"You wanna say that again?" She asked in a threatening tone. "Because I will have you know that everyone likes Nico because he is a hero of Olympus and he is also my best friend so if you have a problem with him then you will have to go through me."

"And me." Annabeth stood up glaring at him.

"Me too." Piper stood up.

"Don't forget me!" Leo said as he jumped on his log, his hair ablaze.

"And me as well." Jason said, consentrating on keeping the Son of Ares in the air.

There were many more shouts of agreement from the camp as Mark got dropped from the air, landing face first into the mud.

Nico smiled at his friends a look of appreciation on his face as he picked up the book to read again.

"**They let Hazel stay here," Percy noted.**

"**That's different," Nico said. **

"**Why?"**

"**Percy," Hazel cut in, "look, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even ... even **_**Gaea**_** isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, **_**that's**_** our biggest worry." She looked at Nico. She was getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for some reason Hazel trusted Percy. **

"Everyone trusts Percy." Katie said, smiling.

**Maybe because he was also an outsider, maybe because he'd saved Frank at the river. He deserved to know what they were facing.**

"**Nico and I," she said carefully, "we think that what's happening is…Death isn't—" **

**Before she could finish, a shout came from down the hill. **

"Damn we don't get to find out," Will muttered.

**Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons.**

**As it did every time she saw Frank, Hazel's heart performed a little skip-beat tap-dance—which **_**really**_** irritated her. Sure, he was a good friend—one of the only people at camp who didn't treat her as if she had a contagious disease. But she didn't like him in **_**that **_**way.**

"Denial," A girl from the Aphrodite cabin sang.

**He was three years older than she was, and he wasn't exactly Prince Charming, with that strange combination of baby face and bulky wrestler's body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. The fact that everyone always tried to pair them up—**_**the two biggest losers at camp! You guys are perfect for each other**_**—just made Hazel more determined not to like him. **

"Poor girl." Annabeth said quietly.

**But her heart wasn't with the program. It went nuts whenever Frank was around. She hadn't felt like that since ... well, since Sammy.**

"It's a love triangle!" Lace squeeled.

**Stop it, she thought. You're here for one reason—and it isn't to get a new boyfriend. **

**Besides, Frank didn't know her secret. If he knew, he wouldn't be so nice to her. **

**He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico…"**

"**Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was the only one at camp who wasn't uneasy around the children of Pluto.**

"Nico," Thalia scolded, it didn't help that she had a smile on her face.

"**Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?"**

"**Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda." **

"He still won't let that go." Annabeth laughed.

"**He…Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."**

**Hazel realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day gone so fast? "You're right," she said. "We'd better—" **

"**Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon."**

**Uh-oh, Hazel thought. She tried not to look anxious.**

"Its never good when someone wants to talk to you alone." A camper said.

"**That's—that's a good idea," she managed. "Go ahead, guys. We'll catch up."**

**Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling—"**

"**Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."**

"**You will?" Hazel blurted. The campers were going to love that—the son of Neptune and the son of Pluto arriving on the same day. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors. **

"I like this girl," Leo said. "A good sense of humour."

"You like every girl, Leo." Piper said.

"Whatever Beauty Queen." Leo muttered.

"Don't call me that Repair Boy."

"You really wanna go there Mclean?"

"Why not, Valdez."

"Guys shut up." Jason yelled.

Piper smiled and kisses his cheek. Leo kept grumbling about being called Repair boy so she kissed his cheek too.

"Eww Pipes." Leo yelped wiping his cheek with the back of her hand. .

She laughed at him and stuck her tongue out.

Nico began reading before someone could start talking.

"**Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in." He turned to Hazel, and she got the sense that the worst part of her day was yet to come. "My sister and I need to talk." **

"Dun dun duun." The stolls yelled in a deep voice.

"**You know him, don't you," Hazel said.**

**They sat on the roof of Pluto's shrine, which was covered with bones and diamonds. As far as Hazel knew, the bones had always been there. The diamonds were her fault. If she sat anywhere too long, or just got anxious, they started popping up all around her like mushrooms after a rain.**

"That's so cool." Will said,.

**Several million dollars' worth of stones glittered on the roof, but fortunately the other campers wouldn't touch them. They knew better than to steal from temples—especially Pluto's—and the fauns never came up here.**

"No." Katie said before any of the Stolls could even open there mouth.

**Hazel shuddered, remembering her close call with Don that afternoon. If she hadn't moved quickly and snatched that diamond off the road…She didn't want to think about it. She didn't need another death on her conscience. **

_Another? _Annabeth thought.

**Nico swung his feet like a little kid. His Stygian iron sword lay by his side, next to Hazel's **_**spatha.**_** He gazed across the valley, where construction crews were working in the Field of Mars, building fortifications for tonight's games.**

"**Percy Jackson." He said the name like an incantation. **

"His like the annoying, obvious, clueless and infuriating brother I never had." Nico smiled.

"**Hazel, I have to be careful what I say. Important things are at work here. Some secrets need to stay secret. You of all people—you should understand that."**

**Hazel's cheeks felt hot. "But he's not like…like me?" **

"**No," Nico said. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I can't interfere. Percy has to find his own way at this camp."**

"**Is he dangerous?" she asked. **

**Nico managed a dry smile. "Very. To his enemies. But he's not a threat to Camp Jupiter. You can trust him."**

"Everyone can trust Percy." A camper said.

"**Like I trust you," Hazel said bitterly.**

**Nico twisted his skull ring. Around him, bones began to quiver as if they were trying to form a new skeleton. Whenever he got moody, Nico had that effect on the dead, kind of like Hazel's curse. Between them, they represented Pluto's two spheres of control: death and riches. Sometimes Hazel thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal.**

"Yeah, I really did." Nico said sadly.

"**Look, I know this is hard," Nico said. "But you have a second chance. You can make things right."**

"**Nothing about this is right," Hazel said. "If they find out the truth about me—" **

"What truth," Annabeth growled impatiently.

"**They won't," Nico promised. "They'll call a quest soon. They have to. You'll make me proud. Trust me, Bi—"**

Nico winced.

**He caught himself, but Hazel knew what he'd almost called her: **_**Bianca.**_** Nico's **_**real**_** sister—the one he'd grown up with. **

Thalia, Annabeth and Grover looked down sadly and everyone else had a moment of silence for the dead hero.

**Nico might care about Hazel, but she'd never be Bianca. Hazel was the simply the next best thing Nico could manage—a consolation prize from the Underworld.**

"What!" Nico yelled. "No she isn't, I love her the same."

"Maybe she feels that way," Piper said. "You have to show her how much you care."

"**I'm sorry," he said.**

**Hazel's mouth tasted like metal, as if gold nuggets were popping up under her tongue. "Then it's true about Death? Is Alcyoneus to blame?"**

"**I think so," Nico said. "It's getting bad in the Underworld. Dad's going crazy trying to keep things under control. From what Percy said about the gorgons, things are getting worse up here, too. But look, that's why you're here. All that stuff in your past—you can make something **_**good**_** come out of it. **

**You belong at Camp Jupiter."**

**That sounded so ridiculous, Hazel almost laughed. She didn't belong in this place. She didn't even belong in this century.**

"It must suck, being in the wrong century" Thalia said.

**She should have known better than to focus on the past, but she remembered the day when her old life had been shattered. The blackout hit her so suddenly, she didn't even have time to say, **_**Uh-oh**_**. **

"Blackout?" Jason questioned

**She shifted back in time. Not a dream or a vision. The memory washed over her with such perfect clarity, she felt she was actually there.**

**Her most recent birthday. She'd just turned thirteen. But not **_**last **_**December—December 17, 1941, the last day she had lived in New Orleans. **

"That's around the time you were born too," Annabeth smiled, still wondering what Hazel went through and how exactly she died.

"I will read." Chris said.

"**Chapter 6 – Hazel VI"**

* * *

**How was it? Sorry again for the wait… I feel so bad**

**Please read and review **

**-Hopexx**


	7. Hazel VI

**OMG ITS BEEN SO LONG!**

**I am so so so so so so so sorry I haven't updated in ages, I went on vacation for a week and I have had so many school assignments ive been so busy but that's no excuse so here is the next chapter!**

**Disclamer: You know the drill ;)**

* * *

"**Chapter 6 – Hazel VI"**

**HAZEL WAS WALKING HOME ALONE**** from the riding stables. Despite the cold evening, she was buzzing with warmth. Sammy had just kissed her on the cheek.**

"Aww that's so cute!" The Aphrodite girls cooed.

**The day had been full of ups and downs. Kids at school had teased her about her mother, calling her a witch and a lot of other names. That had been going on for a long time, of course, but it was getting worse. Rumors were spreading about Hazel's curse.**

"What curse?" Annabeth questioned.

"You'll see" Nico said, smiling that he was the only one who knew.

**The school was called St. Agnes Academy for Colored Children and Indians, a name that hadn't changed in a hundred years. Just like its name, the place masked a whole lot of cruelty under a thin veneer of kindness.**

"I hate bullies." Piper huffed in annoyance, her beautiful face scrunching up.

**Hazel didn't understand how other black kids could be so mean. They should've known better, since they themselves had to put up with name-calling all the time. But they yelled at her and stole her lunch, always asking for those famous jewels: "Where's those cursed diamonds, girl? Gimme some or I'll hurt you!" They pushed her away at the water fountain, and threw rocks at her if she tried to approach them on the playground.**

"Poor Hazel." Katie sighed.

"If those kids knew how powerful she was now they would be all cowering before her." Nico said sadly.

**Despite how horrible they were, Hazel never gave them diamonds or gold. She didn't hate anyone **_**that**_** much. Besides, she had one friend—Sammy—and that was enough.**

Annabeth smiled at the thought of Hazels strong friendship turning into something more; like her and Percy.

**Sammy liked to joke that he was the perfect St. Agnes student. He was Mexican American, so he considered himself colored **_**and**_** Indian. "They should give me a **_**double**_** scholarship," he said.**

"Sounds just like you Leo." Piper joked turning around but she stopped as she saw Leo's frozen figure.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, worried for his friend.

"My great grandfather, his name was Sammy Valdez and I had a black and white picture of him at home from an old family album with his arm around a girl with chocolate skin and golden eyes. Mum told me their story many times but it just popped into my head now." Leo exclaimed.

"Wow man, your great grandfather dated Nico's sister" Connor said, "How awkward is that?"

"Shut up." Nico and Leo said at the same time.

**He wasn't big or strong, but he had a crazy smile and he made Hazel laugh.**

"He's just like you Leo." Piper whispered to her best friend.

**That afternoon he'd taken her to the stables where he worked as a groom. It was a "whites only" riding club, of course, but it was closed on weekdays, and with the war on, there was talk that the club might have to shut down completely until the Japanese were whipped and the soldiers came back home. **

"That's so racist." Will said sadly.

**Sammy could usually sneak Hazel in to help take care of the horses. Once in a while they'd go riding.**

**Hazel loved horses. They seemed to be the only living things that weren't scared of her.**

"Horses hate Nico!" Annabeth laughed , remembering the time Nico tried to ride a Pegasus

"Shut up Annabeth." Nico huffed.

**People hated her. Cats hissed. Dogs growled. Even the stupid hamster in Miss Finley's classroom squeaked in terror when she gave it a carrot. But horses didn't mind. When she was in the saddle, she could ride so fast that there was no chance of gemstones cropping up in her wake. She almost felt free of her curse. **

**That afternoon, she'd taken out a tan roan stallion with a gorgeous black mane. She galloped into the fields so swiftly, she left Sammy behind. By the time he caught up, he and his horse were both winded. **

"**What are you running from?" He laughed. "I'm not **_**that **_**ugly, am I?"**

"I dunno, if he looked anything like Leo then that might be a possibilility" Jason stated sadly

"Hey!" Leo yelled

Jason chuckled before dodging a punch from his best friend.

**It was too cold for a picnic, but they had one anyway, sitting under a magnolia tree with the horses tethered to a split-rail fence. Sammy had brought her a cupcake with a birthday candle, which had gotten smashed on the ride but was still the sweetest thing Hazel had ever seen. They broke it in half and shared it. **

Annabeth smiled sadly at the thought of sharing a cupcake just like she had with Percy on his 16th Birthday.

**Sammy talked about the war. He wished he were old enough to go. He asked Hazel if she would write him letters if he were a soldier going overseas.**

"'**Course, dummy," she said.**

**He grinned. Then, as if moved by a sudden impulse, he lurched forward and kissed her on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Hazel."**

"Its just like Prissy and Annie, though I am pretty sure their kiss was a little more PG rated." Clarisse smirked as Annabeth blushed.

**It wasn't much. Just one kiss, and not even on the lips. But Hazel felt like she was floating. She hardly remembered the ride back to the stables, or telling Sammy good-bye. He said, "See you tomorrow," like he always did. But she would never see him again.**

"Its so sad," A girl from the Aphrodite cabin sniffled.

**By the time she got back to the French Quarter, it was getting dark. As she approached home, her warm feeling faded, replaced by dread.**

**Hazel and her mother—Queen Marie, she liked to be called—lived in an old apartment above a jazz club. Despite the beginning of the war, there was a festive mood in the air. New recruits would roam the streets, laughing and talking about fighting the Japanese. They'd get tattoos in the parlors or propose to their sweethearts right on the sidewalk. Some would go upstairs to Hazel's mother to have their fortunes read or to buy charms from Marie Levesque, the famous **_**grisgris**_** queen.**

"grisgris?" Leo snickered.

"**Did you hear?" one would say. "Two bits for this good-luck charm. I took it to a guy I know, and he says it's a real silver nugget. Worth twenty dollars! That voodoo woman is crazy!"**

**For a while, that kind of talk brought Queen Marie a lot of business. Hazel's curse had started out slowly. At first it seemed like a blessing. The precious stones and gold only appeared once in a while, never in huge quantities. QueenMarie paid her bills. They ate steak for dinner once a week. Hazel even got a new dress. But then stories started spreading. The locals began to realize how many horrible things happened to people who bought those good-luck charms or got paid with Queen Marie's treasure. Charlie Gasceaux lost his arm in a harvester while wearing a gold bracelet. Mr. Henry at the general store dropped dead from a heart attack after Queen Marie settled her tab with a ruby.**

**Folks started whispering about Hazel—how she could find cursed jewels just by walking down the street. These days only out-of-towners came to visit her mother, and not so many of them, either. Hazel's mom had become short-tempered. She gave Hazel resentful looks.**

"Poor Hazel." Katie said, sadly.

**Hazel climbed the stairs as quietly as she could, in case her mother had a customer. In the club downstairs, the band was tuning their instruments. The bakery next door had started making beignets for tomorrow morning, filling the stairwell with the smell of melting butter. **

"Yumm." Connor moaned, his mouth watering.

**When she got to the top, Hazel thought she heard two voices inside the apartment. But when she peeked into the parlor, her mother was sitting alone at the séance table, her eyes closed, as if in a trance.**

**Hazel had seen her that way many times, pretending to talk to spirits for her clients—but not ever when she was by herself. Queen Marie had always told Hazel her **_**gris-gris **_**was "bunk and hokum." She didn't really believe in charms or fortune telling or ghosts. She was just a performer, like a singer or an actress, doing a show for money.**

**But Hazel knew her mother **_**did**_** believe in some magic. Hazel's curse wasn't hokum. Queen Marie just didn't want to think it was her fault—that somehow she had made Hazel the way she was.**

"**It was your blasted father," Queen Marie would grumble in her darker moods. "Coming here in his fancy silver-and black suit. The one time I **_**actually**_** summon a spirit, and what do I get? Fulfills my wish and ruins my life. I should've been a **_**real**_** queen. It's **_**his**_** fault you turned out this way."**

"Hazel didn't deserve this." Nico stated sadly from his seat across from Thalia.

**She would never explain what she meant, and Hazel had learned not to ask about her father. It just made her mother angrier.**

**As Hazel watched, Queen Marie muttered something to herself. Her face was calm and relaxed. Hazel was struck by how beautiful she looked, without her scowl and the creases in her brow. She had a lush mane of gold-brown hair like Hazel's, and the same dark complexion, brown as a roasted coffee bean. She wasn't wearing the fancy saffron robes or gold bangles she wore to impress clients—just a simple white dress. Still, she had a regal air, sitting straight and dignified in her gilded chair as if she really were a queen.**

"Reminds me of Reyna." Nico mumbled to himself.

"**You'll be safe there," she murmured. "Far from the gods."**

**Hazel stifled a scream. The voice coming from her mother's mouth wasn't **_**hers.**_** It sounded like an older woman's. The tone was soft and soothing, but also commanding—like a hypnotist giving orders.**

"Gaea" Annabeth gasped.

**Queen Marie tensed. She grimaced in her trance, then spoke in her normal voice: "It's too far. Too cold. Too dangerous. He told me not to." **

**The other voice responded: "What has he ever done for you? He gave you a poisoned child! But we can use her gift for good. We can strike back at the gods. You will be under my protection in the north, far from the gods' domain. I'll make my son your protector. You'll live like a queen at last."**

**Queen Marie winced. "But what about Hazel…" **

**Then her face contorted in a sneer. Both voices spoke in unison, as if they'd found something to agree on: "A poisoned child." **

"Gaea is convincing her to go to the land beyond the gods." Annabeth said out of the blue.

**Hazel fled down the stairs, her pulse racing.**

**At the bottom, she ran into a man in a dark suit. He gripped her shoulders with strong, cold fingers.**

"**Easy, child," the man said.**

**Hazel noticed the silver skull ring on his finger, then the strange fabric of his suit. In the shadows, the solid black wool seemed to shift and boil, forming images of faces in agony, as if lost souls were trying to escape from the folds of his clothes.**

"Looks like Dad is pretty much the same as Pluto then he is as Hades." Nico stated thoughtfully.

**His tie was black with platinum stripes. His shirt was tombstone gray. His face—Hazel's heart nearly leaped out of her throat. His skin was so white it looked almost blue, like cold milk. He had a flap of greasy black hair. His smile was kind enough, but his eyes were fiery and angry, full of mad power. Hazel had seen that look in the newsreels at the movie theater. This man looked like that awful Adolf Hitler. He had no mustache, but otherwise he could've been Hitler's twin—or his father. **

"His father," Annabeth mumbled.

**Hazel tried to pull away. Even when the man let go, she couldn't seem to move. His eyes froze her in place.**

"**Hazel Levesque," he said in a melancholy voice. "You've grown."**

**Hazel started to tremble. At the base of the stairs, the cement stoop cracked under the man's feet. A glittering stone popped up from the concrete like the earth had spit out a watermelon seed. The man looked at it, unsurprised. He bent down.**

"**Don't!" Hazel cried. "It's cursed!" **

"It wont effect him." Piper said.

**He picked up the stone—a perfectly formed emerald. "Yes, it is. But not to me. So beautiful…worth more than this building, I imagine." He slipped the emerald in his pocket. "I'm sorry for your fate, child. I imagine you hate me."**

**Hazel didn't understand. The man sounded sad, as if he were personally responsible for her life. Then the truth hit her: a spirit in silver and black, who'd fulfilled her mother's wishes and ruined her life. **

**Her eyes widened. "You? You're my…"**

**He cupped his hand under her chin. "I am Pluto. Life is never easy for my children, but you have a special burden. Now that you're thirteen, we must make provisions—"**

**She pushed his hand away. **

"Wohoo! You show him!" The stolls yelled.

Nico just rolled his eyes and signalled for Chris to continue reading before the sons of Hermes said something stupid.

"**You **_**did **_**this to me?" she demanded. "You cursed me and my mother? You left us alone?"**

**Her eyes stung with tears. This rich white man in a fine suit was her **_**father**_**? Now that she was thirteen, he showed up for the first time and said he was sorry?**

"**You're evil!" she shouted. "You ruined our lives!" **

**Pluto's eyes narrowed. "What has your mother told you, Hazel? Has she never explained her wish? Or told you why you were born under a curse?"**

**Hazel was too angry to speak, but Pluto seemed to read the answers in her face. **

"**No…" He sighed. "I suppose she wouldn't. Much easier to blame me." **

"It would be easier to blame the gods for everything wouldn't it?" Leo stated thoughtfully.

"Shut up." Piper said smacking her best friends arm.

"**What do you mean?"**

**Pluto sighed. "Poor child. You were born too soon.**

"It's not that bad, a lot of babies were born 3 days or even a week or 2 early." Travis said, confused.

"That's not what he means dimwit," Annabeth said. "He means she was born like 70 years too early that's why she is alive now, it was her fate."

"Ohhh." He grinned sheepishly.

**I cannot see your future clearly, but someday you will find your place. A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace. I fear, though, that is not for many years.…"**

"A descendant of Neptune? Wouldn't that be Percy since Neptune is Poseidon." Thalia asked.

She got no answer so Chris continued reading.

**Hazel didn't follow any of that. Before she could respond, Pluto held out his hand. A sketchpad and a box of colored pencils appeared in his palm.**

"**I understand you enjoy art and horseback riding," he said. "These are for your art. As for the horse…" His eyes gleamed. "That, you'll have to manage yourself. Now I must speak with your mother. Happy birthday, Hazel."**

**He turned and headed up the stairs—just like that, as if he'd checked Hazel off his "to do" list and had already forgotten her. **_**Happy birthday. Go draw a picture. See you in another thirteen years. **_

"What a doosh." Leo laughed.

His laughs died down quickly because of a certain son of Hades glaring at the fire user.

**She was so stunned, so angry, so upside-down confused that she just stood paralyzed at the base of the steps. She wanted to throw down the colored pencils and stomp on them. She wanted to charge after Pluto and kick him. She wanted to run away, find Sammy, steal a horse, leave town and never come back. But she didn't do any of those things.**

**Above her, the apartment door opened, and Pluto stepped inside. **

**Hazel was still shivering from his cold touch, but she crep tup the stairs to see what he would do. What would he say to Queen Marie? Who would speak back—Hazel's mother, or that awful voice? **

**When she reached the doorway, Hazel heard arguing. She peeked in. Her mother seemed back to normal—screaming and angry, throwing things around the parlor while Pluto tried to reason with her. **

"**Marie, it's insanity," he said. "You'll be far beyond my power to protect you."**

"Marie." Nico smiled, sadly. "I guess dad has a thing for ladies with a name similar to that."

No one knew what he meant so they just sat in silence before Chris started reading again.

"**Protect me?" Queen Marie yelled. "When have you **_**ever **_**protected me?"**

**Pluto's dark suit shimmered, as if the souls trapped in the fabric were getting agitated.**

"**You have no idea," he said. "I've kept you alive, you and the child. My enemies are everywhere among gods and men. Now with the war on, it will only get worse. You **_**must**_** stay where I can—" **

"**The police think I'm a murderer!" Queen Marie shouted. "My clients want to hang me as a witch! And Hazel—her curse is getting worse. Your **_**protection**_** is killing us." **

**Pluto spread his hands in a pleading gesture. "Marie, please—"**

"**No!" Queen Marie turned to the closet, pulled out a leather valise, and threw it on the table. "We're leaving," she announced. "You can keep your protection. We're going north." **

"**Marie, it's a trap," Pluto warned. "Whoever's whispering in your ear, whoever's turning you against me—" **

"Gaea has been working against us since like 70 years ago." Will said.

"_**You**_** turned me against you!" She picked up a porcelain vase and threw it at him. It shattered on the floor, and precious stones spilled everywhere—emeralds, rubies, diamonds. Hazel's entire collection. **

"**You won't survive," Pluto said. "If you go north, you'll both die. I can foresee that clearly."**

"**Get out!" she said. **

**Hazel wished Pluto would stay and argue. Whatever her mother was talking about, Hazel didn't like it. But her father slashed his hand across the air and dissolved into shadows…like he really **_**was**_** a spirit.**

"That's cooler that your shadow travel." Thalia said to Nico who just glared back at his cousin.

**Queen Marie closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Hazel was afraid the strange voice might possess her again. But when she spoke, she was her regular self.**

"**Hazel," she snapped, "come out from behind that door."**

**Trembling, Hazel obeyed. She clutched the sketchpad and colored pencils to her chest.**

**Her mother studied her like she was a bitter disappointment. **_**A poisoned child,**_** the voices had said. **

"What a crappy mum, I feel sorry for your sister Nico" Leo said.

"I do too." He replied

"**Pack a bag," she ordered. "We're moving." **

"**Wh-where?" Hazel asked. **

"**Alaska," Queen Marie answered. "You're going to make yourself useful. We're going to start a new life."**

**The way her mother said that, it sounded as if they were going to create a "new life" for someone else—or some**_**thing **_**else. **

"**What did Pluto mean?" Hazel asked. "Is he really my father? He said you made a wish—"**

"**Go to your room!" her mother shouted. "Pack!"**

"So it really was her mothers fault," Annabeth thought out loud. "She wished for Hazel to bring her good fortune."

**Hazel fled, and suddenly she was ripped out of the past. **

**Nico was shaking her shoulders. "You did it again."**

Jason blinked "I almost forgot that it was a flashback."

**Hazel blinked. They were still sitting on the roof of Pluto's shrine. The sun was lower in the sky. More diamonds had surfaced around her, and her eyes stung from crying.**

"**S-sorry," she murmured.**

"**Don't be," Nico said. "Where were you?"**

"**My mother's apartment. The day we moved."**

**Nico nodded. He understood her history better than most people could. He was also a kid from the 1940s. He'd been born only a few years after Hazel, and had been locked away in a magic hotel for decades. But Hazel's past was much worse than Nico's. She'd caused so much damage and misery.…**

"Stupid Hotel" Nico muttered

Thalia locked eyes with him and smiled sadly, knowing it was her father's fault that Nico's mother was dead.

"**You have to work on controlling those memories," Nico warned. "If a flashback like that happens when you're in combat—" **

"**I know," she said. "I'm trying."**

**Nico squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I think it's a side effect from…you know, your time in the Underworld. Hopefully it'll get easier." **

"Your such a good brother Nico." Annabeth smiled at him.

He blushed slightly but kept a straight face, not letting her know that comment meant a lot to him.

**Hazel wasn't so sure. After eight months, the blackouts seemed to be getting worse, as if her soul were attempting to live in two different time periods at once. No one had ever come back from the dead before—at least, not the way **_**she **_**had. Nico was trying to reassure her, but neither of them knew what would happen.**

"**I can't go north again," Hazel said. "Nico, if I have to go back to where it happened—"**

"**You'll be fine," he promised. "You'll have friends this time. Percy Jackson—he's got a role to play in this. You can sense that, can't you? He's a good person to have at your side."**

"Yeah he is." Annabeth smiled sadly.

**Hazel remembered what Pluto told her long ago: **_**A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace.**_

**Was Percy the one? Maybe, but Hazel sensed it wouldn't be so easy. She wasn't sure even Percy could survive what was waiting in the north.**

"**Where did he come from?" she asked. "Why do the ghosts call him the Greek?"**

"CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" Everyone yelled.

Chiron smiled, shaking his head at his campers.

**Before Nico could respond, horns blew across the river. The legionnaires were gathering for evening muster.**

"**We'd better get down there," Nico said. "I have a feeling tonight's war games are going to be interesting." **

"War games?" Clarisse smirked. "I can't wait for the next chapter."

"You wanna read next?" Chris asked his girlfriend.

"Yeah, chuck it here." She said.

Chris studied the distance between them then thought better of it. He stood up and handed her the book and pecked her on the cheek before returning to his seat.

Clarisse opened the book to the right chapter and frowned.

"What in Hades?" She questioned staring down at the book.

* * *

**How was it? That was kinda a cliffhanger…Whats on the page that made Clarisse stare at it like that?**

**You will just have to wait. Make sure to Review and flames are more than welcome. Any ideas for the next chapter?  
-Hopexx**


	8. Blank Books

**Hey! I know you all have been waiting to see what Clarrise finds in the book and I have been waiting ages to write it but I finally have…After an English Oral and Maths Test…And I really hope it is what you were hoping.**

**OK SO I MADE A MISTAKE IN MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT THIS CHAPTER BUT THIS IS MY NEW UPDATED VERSION THAT ATUALLY MAKES SENCE (I HOPE)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters OR the book, it all belongs to Rick Riordan, the best author ever.**

…**.**

_PREVIOUSLY…._

"_You wanna read next?" Chris asked his girlfriend._

"_Yeah, chuck it here." She said._

_Chris studied the distance between them then thought better of it. He stood up and handed her the book and pecked her on the cheek before returning to his seat._

_Clarisse opened the book to the right chapter and frowned._

"_What in Hades?" She questioned staring down at the book_

…_._

"What in Hades?" She questioned staring down at the bok.

Confusion covered her face as she stared down at the book with a blank expression on.

"What is it Clarisse?" Nico asked, "And don't use my dads name in a curse!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the Son of Hades and walked over to Clarisse so she could look at what was troubling her frien- ah fellow camper.

"Huh, that's weird." She muttered as she also looked at the book. She slowly picked it up from Clarisse's buffy hands and walked over to Chiron, showing it to him while discussing the problem at hand.

The campers begun to talk over eachother thinking up the craziest things that could have been wrong.

"Maybe the book was alive!" Travis said.

"You idiot Travis," His brother said. "It was obviously an alien sending a message."

"You boys are both Idiots." Katie said, wacking them both on the head. She got a nod of agreement from the Hunter sitting 2 logs down, watching the boys be stupid.

"I doubt they are as stupid as Leo." Piper said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!"

"Well it is kinda true mate," Jason said slowly and wearily.

"Whatever." Leo huffed

"Children quiet down" Chiron said in his soft voice, not bothering to raise it. "It seems that there are no more words in this book and I am afraid that this is all that we can read, perhaps the fates won't allow any more to be rea-"

He was cut off when a note similar to the one Annabeth found, fell exactly onto the book. He cleared his throat and read aloud.

_Campers and Chiron,_

_We are aware that this book has no more words but plenty more pages. The book will automatically become blank with no more chapters when it is time for the camp to rest. It is essential for the book to do so because not even we – The Fates – can tell you that no one will wake up in the middle of the night to read ahead and find out things before anyone else._

_We assure you that by morning there will be plenty more chapters ready to be read so we suggest that you all get some rest as tomorrow will be another day full of reading. All we can say is that Perseus is safe and he still hasn't gotten his memory back – apart from the name Annabeth that is._

_Sincerely,_

_The Fates._

"Alright Campers, I suggest you all do as the Fates say and go to your cabins, it is curfew after all. Lights out in 10 minutes and we will continue reading tomorrow at Breakfast. Goodnight."

There were many 'Goodnight Chiron's' as everyone left the pavilion. Annabeth stayed behind to talk to Thalia and Nico.

"He's safe Annabeth, at least we know that." Thalia whispering soothingly

"I know you miss him heaps Annabeth so I will go to Camp Jupiter tonight to check up on him," Nico said, "I cant tell him about you and everything because Reyna will think I'm a traitor or a spy but I can continue like I actually am the Son of Pluto. I need to check on Hazel anyway."

"Thankyou Nico," Annabeth sniffed. "For everything." She gave him a long hug and turned around to go to her cabin.

"Well Death Breath, I better be off," Thalia said, ignoring Nico's rolled eyes at her nickname for him. "But just don't strain yourself to much with the Shadow Travel, I know you want to protect your sister and look after your cousin but we need you alive and I can't lose another cousin." He smiled at this. "Even if it's you"

He frowned "Gee thanks Pinecone Face."

"I'm kidding; give your older cousin a hug before you leave." She said putting her arms around his shoulder for a quick hug, she _was _still a hunter.

"Hey," he pulled back. "I'm older.

"Yeah but I was a tree for half my life so I would actually be in my twenties." She answered smugly.

"I should be over 70 years old Pinecone face, don't be so sure you're the oldest," He smirked and shadow travelled away before his older/younger cousin could get him.

"Arggg." Thalia yelled in frustration before stomping off to bed. She hated being wrong.

…

**HEY GUYS! WAS THIS VERSION BETTER? PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW ON ANY OF MY CHAPTERS COMING UP IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING HORRIBLY WRONG IN IT.**

**Read and Review, flames aloud….blah blah blah and all that stuff.**

**I have read so many great fanfics lately and I just wanted to say that if you love Percabeth stories as mortals then read stories from this amazing author below.  
PiperElizabethMcLean**


	9. Hazel VII

**It has been ages since I have updated and I am sooooo sorry but I have been so busy lately. Hey, at least I haven't given up the story!**

**Ok so this chapter will include something that a lot of people have requested in the reviews….Yes, I am including some gods in here for you guys!**

**I am still deciding if I should put a demigod from like 2 years in the future or something so make sure your review your answer… The poll is….**

_Do you want a future demigod included and who._

**Dislclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own the characters, the book, the gods or anything. I just own the comments and the fillers not in bold.**

* * *

The next morning the campers were all up and ready on time, going to breakfast and waiting anxiously at their tables whilst they ate.

Finally after everyone was settled in the pavilion and Chiron was present the campers became silent.

"Okay campers, I have just looked inside the book and the next few chapter have indeed appeared for reading so if-"

He didn't get to finish as 12 bright lights filled the area and everyone shielded their eyes. As the lights faded out, it revealed the faces of the major Gods standing beside eachother. All the campers kneeled before the Gods and Chiron bowed his head.

"You may rise now," Athena's strong but gentle voiced rang above the silence. "The fates have notified us of the recent… events and we would all like to hear the story of our children, Roman or Greek so we are going to be joining you whilst you read."

Athena smiled at her daughter quickly before sitting on a throne she had made appear. The other gods did the same and Chiron held up the book.

"Who would like to read next?" He asked.

"Chiron, if it is not too much trouble I would like to read." Poseidon asked politely. "It is, after all, about my son."

Chiron handed him the book before going back to sit down

"**Chapter Seven – Hazel VII"**

**ON THE WAY BACK, HAZEL TRIPPED OVER A GOLD BAR ****. **

**She should have known not to run so fast, but she was afraid of being late for muster. **

"Muster?" Travis snickered.

Piper looked at Katie and nodded at her before Katie wacked Travis on the head for being such an idiot. Piper gave her a look of approval before sneaking a look at the idiot beside her (Leo)

**The Fifth Cohort had the nicest centurions in camp. Still, even **_**they**_** would have to punish her if she was tardy. Roman punishments were harsh: scrubbing the streets with a toothbrush, cleaning the bull pens at the coliseum, getting sewn inside a sack full of angry weasels and dumped into the Little Tiber—the options were not great.**

"That's a bit harsh." Chris commented.

"The romans are known for strict punishments as they need to teach the children to be warriors and to be organised." Athena answered.

**The gold bar popped out of the ground just in time for her foot to hit it. Nico tried to catch her, but she took a spill and scraped her hands.**

"Oh yeah I forgot about Nico," Thalia muttered sheepishly before saying aloud "Where is he?"

Nobody answered her but a certain God of prophecies had a dazed look in his eye as a small vision of the Son of Hades came to view. Lucky nobody noticed.

"**You okay?" Nico knelt next to her and reached for the bar of gold.**

"**Don't!" Hazel warned. **

**Nico froze. "Right. Sorry. It's just…jeez. That thing is **_**huge." **_**He pulled a flask of nectar from his aviator jacket and poured a little on Hazel's hands. Immediately the cuts started to heal. "Can you stand?"**

"Would the gold affect a Son of Hades?" Annabeth questioned.

"I do not know, Nico has never tried and I cannot recall anyone else in history trying either." Hades answered.

**He helped her up. They both stared at the gold. It was the size of a bread loaf, stamped with a serial number and the words u.s. treasury**_**. **_

**Nico shook his head. "How in Tartarus—?" **

"**I don't know," Hazel said miserably. "It could've been buried there by robbers or dropped off a wagon a hundred years ago. Maybe it migrated from the nearest bank vault. Whatever's in the ground, anywhere close to me—it just pops up. And the more valuable it is—"**

"Poor girl," Piper muttered. Jason gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. This did not go unnoticed by the Goddess of Love and you could hear her give a little squeal at her favourite daughter.

"**The more dangerous it is." Nico frowned. "Should we cover it up? If the fauns find it…"**

**Hazel imagined a mushroom cloud billowing up from the road, char-broiled fauns tossed in every direction. It was too horrible to consider. "It **_**should**_** sink back underground after I leave, eventually, but just to be sure…"**

**She'd been practicing this trick, but never with something so heavy and dense. She pointed at the gold bar and tried to concentrate. **

**The gold levitated. She channeled her anger, which wasn't hard—she hated that gold, she hated her curse, she hated thinking about her past and all the ways she'd failed. Her fingers tingled. The gold bar glowed with heat.**

"That's a lot of hate," Leo whistled.

Piper smacked him across the head. Enough said.

**Nico gulped. "Um, Hazel, are you sure…?"**

**She made a fist. The gold bent like putty. Hazel forced it to twist into a giant, lumpy ring. Then she flicked her hand toward the ground. Her million-dollar doughnut slammed into the earth. It sank so deep, nothing was left but a scar of fresh dirt. **

**Nico's eyes widened. "That was…terrifying." **

"Wow, I didn't think something could terrify Nico." Thalia smiled. Blackmail.

**Hazel didn't think it was so impressive compared to the powers of a guy who could reanimate skeletons and bring people back from the dead, but it felt good to surprise **_**him **_**for a change.**

"That's so true." Will said

**Inside the camp, horns blew again. The cohorts would be starting roll call, and Hazel had no desire to be sewn into a sack of weasels. **

"**Hurry!" she told Nico, and they ran for the gates. **

**The first time Hazel had seen the legion assemble, she'd been so intimidated, she'd almost slunk back to the barracks to hide. Even after being at camp for nine months, she still found it an impressive sight.**

"Must be pretty impressive," Connor said

"That's what she just said, idiot." Clarisse yelled.

**The first four cohorts, each forty kids strong, stood in rows in front of their barracks on either side of the Via Praetoria. The Fifth Cohort assembled at the very end, in front of the **_**principia**_**, since their barracks were tucked in the back corner of camp next to the stables and the latrines. Hazel had to run right down the middle of the legion to reach her place.**

**The campers were dressed for war. Their polished chain mail and greaves gleamed over purple T-shirts and jeans. Sword-and-skull designs decorated their helmets. Even their leather combat boots looked ferocious with their iron cleats, great for marching through mud or stomping on faces.**

Ares and his cabin grinned wickedly.

**In front of the legionnaires, like a line of giant dominoes, stood their red and gold shields, each the size of a refrigerator door. Every legionnaire carried a harpoonlike spear called a **_**pilum**_**, a **_**gladius**_**, a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment. If you were out of shape when you came to the legion, you didn't stay that way for long. Just walking around in your armor was a full-body workout.**

"That is so true." A new camper muttered and got a few nods of agreement from the other newbies.

**Hazel and Nico jogged down the street as everyone was coming to attention, so their entrance was **_**really**_** obvious.**

"Awkward" Leo sang

**Their footsteps echoed on the stones. Hazel tried to avoid eye contact, but she caught Octavian at the head of the First Cohort smirking at her, looking smug in his plumed centurion's helmet with a dozen medals pinned on his chest.**

**Hazel was still seething from his blackmail threats earlier.**

"He blackmailed her!" Hades yelled furiously.

Poseidon tried to reassure his brother and Hades just sat back huffing.

**Stupid augur and his gift of prophecy—of all the people at camp to discover her secrets, why did it have to be **_**him**_**? She was sure he would have told on her weeks ago, except that he knew her secrets were worth more to him as leverage. She wished she'd kept that bar of gold so she could hit him in the face with it. **

"I like the girl," Thalia grinned, "Nice job Uncle Hades."

Hades just gave her a swift nod, obviously still upset about the Augur blackmailing his daughter.

**She ran past Reyna, who was cantering back and forth on her pegasus Scipio—nicknamed Skippy because he was the color of peanut butter. The metal dogs Aurum and Argentum trotted at her side. Her purple officer's cape billowed behind her. **

"She has to wear a cape?" Connor snickered.

"Like Superman?" Travis joined in.

Katie just rolled her eyes. Used to the boys annoying comments.

"**Hazel Levesque," she called, "so glad you could join us."**

**Hazel knew better than to respond. She was missing most of her equipment, but she hurried to her place in line next to Frank and stood at attention. Their lead centurion, a big seventeen-year-old guy named Dakota, was just calling her name—the last one on the roll. **

"**Present!" she squeaked.**

**Thank the gods. Technically, she wasn't late. **

"Technically" Will said.

**Nico joined Percy Jackson, who was standing off to one side with a couple of guards. Percy's hair was wet from the baths. He'd put on fresh clothes, but he still looked uncomfortable. Hazel couldn't blame him. He was about to be introduced to two hundred heavily armed kids.**

"I reckon he could take all of them," Thalia said.

Athena moved uncomfortably in her chair as she heard the use of a word not in the English dictionary. Or any dictionary for that matter.

**The Lares were the last ones to fall in. Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places. They had an annoying habit of standing halfway inside living people, so that the ranks looked like a blurry photograph, but finally the centurions got them sorted out.**

**Octavian shouted, "Colors!" **

**The standard-bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skincapes and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. The job was supposed to be a big honor, but Jacob obviously hated it. Even though Reyna insisted on following tradition, every time the eagleless pole was raised, Hazel could feel embarrassment rippling through the legion.**

"Fail," Leo snickered.

Piper shushed him from the look he was getting from the Gods.

**Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.**

"**Romans!" she announced. "You've probably heard about the incursion today. Two gorgons were swept into the river by this newcomer, Percy Jackson. Juno herself guided him here, and proclaimed him a son of Neptune." **

Poseidon flickered to his Roman form but quickly returned back before anyone could see.

**The kids in the back rows craned their necks to see Percy. He raised his hand and said, "Hi." **

"Still the same old Seaweed brain," Annabeth muttered.

"He just waved and said Hi to a bunch of armed Romans?" Thalia chuckled. "What an idiot."

"**He seeks to join the legion," Reyna continued. "What do the auguries say?"**

"**I have read the entrails!" Octavian announced, as if he'd killed a lion with his bare hands rather than ripping up a stuffed panda pillow. "The auguries are favorable. He is qualified to serve!"**

"_I have read the entrails!" _Leo called out in a deep voice, trying to imitate the augur he has never met.

"He doesn't speak like that Leo," Jason chuckled. "He actually has quite a high pitched voice for a 16 year old,"

At this comment everyone started laughing even a couple of the gods. (coughcough Hermes and Apollo coughcough)

**The campers gave a shout: **_**"Ave!" Hail! **_

**Frank was a little late with his **_**"ave,"**_** so it came out as a high-pitched echo. The other legionnaires snickered.**

"Poor guy," Katie said, but her quite voice couldn't be heard over the loud laughs of the Stoll brothers and a certain son of Hephaestus.

Ares wanted to defend his son but remembered that he hadn't been claimed yet.

**Reyna motioned the senior officers forward—one from each cohort. Octavian, as the most senior centurion, turned to Percy.**

"**Recruit," he asked, "do you have credentials? Letters of reference?" **

"Letters of reference!" Annabeth shouted in disgrace "He doesn't have any memories let alone letters!"

Thalia put a comforting arm around her friend and calmed her down.

Athena huffed in annoyance that her wise daughter was going out with a sea spawn.

**Hazel remembered this from her own arrival. A lot of kids brought letters from older demigods in the outside world, adults who were veterans of the camp. Some recruits had rich and famous sponsors. Some were third- or fourth-generation campers. A good letter could get you a position in the better cohorts, sometimes even special jobs like legion messenger, which made you exempt from the grunt work like digging ditches or conjugating Latin verbs.**

**Percy shifted. "Letters? Um, no."**

**Octavian wrinkled his nose. **

_**Unfair!**_** Hazel wanted to shout. Percy had carried a goddess into camp. What better recommendation could you want? **

"I like this girl," Thalia said

Poseidon nodded in agreement. She was helping his son afterall.

**But Octavian's family had been sending kids to camp for over a century. He loved reminding recruits that they were less important than he was.**

"That's horrible!" Artemis yelled, sending a dirty look to her twin brother.

"Hey, don't look at me! He's not my son, he's a descendant," Apollo defended himself

"**No letters," Octavian said regretfully. "Will any legionnaires stand for him?" **

"**I will!" Frank stepped forward. "He saved my life!"**

Annabeth and Poseidon smiled. Anyone who helps Percy is a good friend.

**Immediately there were shouts of protest from the other cohorts. Reyna raised her hand for quiet and glared at Frank.**

"**Frank Zhang," she said, "for the second time today, I remind you that you are on **_**probatio. **_**Your godly parent has not even claimed you yet. You're not eligible to stand for another camper until you've earned your first stripe."**

**Frank looked like he might die of embarrassment.**

"I wonder if that's possible," Connor questioned. "To die of embarrassment."

"No it is humanly impossible for one to die of utter embarrassment Son Of Hermes because the effects of the human bra-"

Poeison cut her off with a loud cough and she glared at him as he continued reading.

**Hazel couldn't leave him hanging. She stepped out of line and said, "What Frank means is that Percy saved **_**both**_** our lives. I am a full member of the legion. I will stand for Percy Jackson." **

**Frank glanced at her gratefully, but the other campers started to mutter. Hazel was barely eligible. She'd only gotten her stripe a few weeks ago, and the "act of valor" that earned it for her had been mostly an accident. Besides, she was a daughter of Pluto, and a member of the disgraced Fifth Cohort. She wasn't doing Percy much of a favor by giving him her support.**

**Reyna wrinkled her nose, but she turned to Octavian. The augur smiled and shrugged, like the idea amused him.**

"I cant wait till Percy whips his butt," Chris snickered.

Most of the camp nodded there heads in agreement as well as some gods.

**Why not? Hazel thought. Putting Percy in the Fifth would make him less of a threat, and Octavian liked to keep all his enemies in one place. **

"**Very well," Reyna announced. "Hazel Levesque, you may stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept him?"**

**The other cohorts started coughing, trying not to laugh. Hazel knew what they were thinking: **_**Another loser for the Fifth**_**. **

**Frank pounded his shield against the ground. The other members of the Fifth followed his lead, though they didn't seem very excited. Their centurions, Dakota and Gwen, exchanged pained looks, like: **_**Here we go again.**_

"**My cohort has spoken," Dakota said. "We accept the recruit." **

**Reyna looked at Percy with pity. "Congratulations, Percy Jackson. You stand on **_**probatio. **_**You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. **_**Senatus Populusque Romanus!**_**" **

**The rest of the legion echoed the cheer.**

**Reyna wheeled her pegasus away from Percy, like she was glad to be done with him. Skippy spread his beautiful wings. Hazel couldn't help feeling a pang of envy. She'd give anything for a horse like that, but it would never happen. Horses were for officers only, or barbarian cavalry, not for Roman legionnaires.**

"They only have 1 pegasus?" Bucth exclaimed. He teaches the campers how to ride pegasi and having only 1 in a camp was horrible to think about.

"**Centurions," Reyna said, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth will attack. Good fortune!" **

**A bigger cheer went up—for the war games and for dinner. The cohorts broke ranks and ran for the mess hall. **

**Hazel waved at Percy, who made his way through the crowd with Nico at his side. To Hazel's surprise, Nico was beaming at her.**

"**Good job, Sis," he said. "That took guts, standing for him." **

**He had never called her **_**Sis **_**before. She wondered if that was what he had called Bianca. **

"Poor Hazel," Thalia muttered. "Must be hard living in the shadow of a sister Nico loved so much."

"Where is Nico?" Annabeth questioned.

Silence hung in the air at the unanswered questions. Apollo looked down and told himself that he would tell them after this chapter.

**One of the guards had given Percy his **_**probatio **_**nameplate. Percy strung it on his leather necklace with the strange beads.**

"**Thanks, Hazel," he said. "Um, what exactly does it mean—your standing for me?"**

"**I guarantee your good behavior," Hazel explained. "I teach you the rules, answer your questions, make sure you don't disgrace the legion."**

"**And…if I do something wrong?"**

"**Then I get killed along with you," Hazel said. "Hungry? Let's eat." **

"She must be very loyal if she were to stand for someone she hardly knows," Artemis says. "Maybe she would like to join the hunt."

"No! You cannot take her to join your hunt because she is destined to be with Frank," Aphrodite yelled. "I am going to have so much fun with their relationship,"

"Aphrodite you will not go anywhere near my daughter love life," Hades demanded.

"What about Nico?" Aphrodite questions, grinning from ear to ear. "I have a couple of girls in mind for him,"

"No!" Hades bellowed

Before they could start arguing Apollo coughed loudly and jumped up on his makeshift throne.

"Hey guys! I need your attention," He called out.

"Get down brother, stop being an idiot," Artemis hissed.

"Nah I got this Arty," He smirked "I feel like I'm a movie star."

"What is it, Apollo?" Hephaestus questioned.

"I recently had a vision of something terrible," He started. "I am afraid that the Son of Hades has been captured by Gaea's forces and is being held captive by giants."

That's when all hell broke loose.

* * *

**How was it? I am sorry again for the wait. Read and Review!**

**MAKE SURE YOU COMMENT YOUR ANSWERS FOR THE POLL**

_Do you want a future demigod included and who?_

**Thanks for being patient everyone! Peace out!**

**-Hopexx**


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